May 4, 2005
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ORLANDO, Fla. - The UCF softball team will conclude the regular season on Thursday, May 5 when the team travels to DeLand, Fla. to take on Stetson with the first pitch of the doubleheader slated for 6 p.m. The Golden Knights will enter game one with a 40-25-1 record on the season and a 12-6 mark in the Atlantic Sun, while the Hatters come in with a 34-17 record on the season and a 12-6 mark in the A-Sun.
Stephanie Best paces the offense with a .337 batting average, 23 home runs, 54 RBI and 134 total bases. She has a team-high slugging percentage of .779. Jania Shinhoster leads the team in hits with 63 and is second in batting average at .318 with 11 doubles, four triples and three home runs.
As a team, UCF is hitting .272 with 44 home runs.
Lindsay Enders anchors the pitching staff with a 20-12 record and a 1.60 ERA. She leads the pitching staff in strikeouts with 171 as opponents are only hitting .194 against her.
As a team, the Golden Knights have an ERA of 2.26, while opponents are batting .232.
UCF is currently tied for third in the A-Sun standings with Stetson. Best tops the league in home runs, walks (50), runs scored (50), RBI, on-base percentage (.487) and slugging percentage, while Enders leads the conference in wins, shutouts (8), innings pitched (236.2), games started (32), appearances (42) and complete games (29).
Nationally, Best ranks first in home runs, fourth in home runs per game (0.35), second in walks per game (0.76) and 19th in slugging percentage, while Cici Alvarez is 12th in sacrifice hits per game (0.35).
Last time out, UCF split with A-Sun leader Troy on Sunday, April 24 in Orlando. The Trojans took game one, 3-1, while the Golden Knights won game two, 11-8, in come-from-behind fashion.
Best was 2-for-3 at the plate for the afternoon with one home run, two RBI, two runs and four walks, while Cat Snapp was 3-for-6 with one RBI and one run. Enders was tagged with the loss in game one after giving up three runs on six hits, while Jennifer Tomasetti picked up her fourth win of the season in game two, giving up eight runs on 12 hits.
Stetson is led offensively by Melissa Wiggins. The Temple Terrace, Fla. native is batting .422 with 10 home runs, twenty doubles, 53 RBI and 31 runs. She also leads the Hatters in slugging percentage (.733).
As a team, Stetson is hitting .306 with 23 home runs.
Brittani Houghton leads the pitching staff with a record of 19-8 on the season and an ERA of 1.32. Houghton has given up 41 runs on 101 hits, 22 walks and 188 strikeouts in 153.1 innings of work. Opponents are hitting .178 against Houghton.
The Hatters have a team ERA of 1.75.
Stetson swept Florida Atlantic on Saturday, April 23 in Boca Raton, Fla. Houghton and Shawna Wiggs led the Hatters at the plate, going 4-for-8. Houghton and Jennifer Buckley earned the wins for Stetson.
This will be the ninth time that UCF and Stetson have met on the softball diamond with the Golden Knights leading the series, 6-2. The last time that these two teams met was on May 15, 2004 in the 2004 Atlantic Sun Tournament Semifinal in Boca Raton, Fla. with UCF defeating the Hatters, 2-1. Best and Bryttani Lindheim were both 1-for-2 at the plate with Best and Alvarez scoring the two runs. Kelly McIntyre earned the win for the Knights, giving up one run on nine hits.
Next week, the Golden Knights will travel to Boca Raton, Fla. to participate in the 2005 Atlantic Sun Championship Thursday thru Saturday.