May 7, 2006
ORLANDO - Cici Alvarez was 1-for-4 with one run scored as the UCF softball team fell to East Carolina, 2-1, Sunday afternoon in Conference USA action at the UCF Softball Stadium. The Golden Knights ended the season with a 19-37 overall record and a 4-20 mark in C-USA, while the Pirates improved to 39-22 and 13-11.
"We came out strong in the first part of the spring season with big wins over Texas Tech and Ohio State," said UCF softball head coach Renee Luers-Gillispie. "It was a tough season and you can't predict something like this. I think that we are stronger because of the adversity that the team dealt with this year and will be stronger next year because of it."
East Carolina broke the 0-0 tie in the top of the fifth and scored two runs. Vanessa Moreno hit a double to left field to give the Pirates a base runner. Moreno advanced to third on an Erin St. Ledger ground out to second and then scored on a pass ball. Two batters later, Stephanie Hayes scored on a Jessica Johnson double to right field.
The Golden Knights cut East Carolina's lead in half in the bottom of the fifth when Alvarez scored on a Cat Snapp single to left center.
Keli Harrell picked up her third win of the weekend, pitching seven innings and giving up one run on six hits with nine strikeouts. Allison Kime was tagged with the loss, going the distance and giving up two runs on five hits with five strikeouts.
UCF spread six hits out among six batters, while East Carolina had five hits with three by Moreno.
The Golden Knights return to action in 2007 when the team will host the Conference USA Softball Championship at the UCF Softball Stadium.