May 7, 2008
l Watch l Championship Central
Houston, Texas (www.ucfathletics.com) - The No. 2 UCF softball team opens play at the Conference USA Softball Championship Thursday at 1 p.m. EST, facing off with No. 7 Southern Miss for the fourth time in the past six days at the Cougar Softball Stadium in Houston, Texas. The Knights won the series with the Lady Eagles last weekend, 2-1, and hold a 4-5 all-time record when facing the No. 7 seed.
Previewing Southern Miss
After falling, 2-1, in the three-game C-USA series last weekend to the Knights, Southern Miss holds a 25-29 record heading into the opening round of the C-USA Softball Championship Thursday.
Megan Hill leads the Lady Eagles at the plate, batting .336 with 51 hits, three triples, five home runs, 28 RBI and a .520 slugging percentage. Hill posted three hits, a double and two walks in the series with UCF. Samantha Davis has seen the most time in the circle for Southern Miss, holding a 15-11 record and a 2.49 ERA in 174.0 innings of work. The hurler went 1-1 against the Knights, allowing only two earned runs in 14.0 innings.
Someone's Got a Hot Bat
Breanne Javier extended her hitting-streak to a career-high 15 games Sunday in the Knights' series finale with Southern Miss with her single in the first inning, with the streak marking the longest in program history. The longest prior to Javier's hot-streak was 14, held by Jania Shinhoster during the 2005 season. Since the streak started on April 5 in the Knights' win over No. 9 Houston, Javier is hitting .479 with 23 hits, three doubles, 10 RBI, a .542 slugging percentage and a .490 on-base percentage.
Over the Hill
The Knights' 43 wins during the regular-season are the second-most in program history, trailing only their 44-17 regular-season mark during the 2002 season. In that inaugural season, the Black and Gold went on to tally a 46-19 record after falling to Georgia State twice in the Atlantic Sun Tournament in Troy, Ala. In 2005, the Knights registered a 41-26-1 record at the end of regular-season play, but went on to win five games, including four-straight, in the ASun Tournament to win their first league crown and an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. After going 1-2 at the NCAA Regional Tournament in Gainesville, Fla., UCF finished the season with a program-record 47 wins, a mark that the 2008 squad looks to top.
Strikeout Queen
Allison Kime's 319 strikeouts this season not only broke the UCF single-season record, but also moved the senior to No. 4 all-time on the Conference USA strikeout register with 807 in only three years in the league. Kime currently leads the league in whiffs, with her closest competitor falling 71 Ks short of her mark. The Brandon, Fla., native also ranks first in the Southeast Region in strikeouts, while tying for second with 28 wins and 12 shutouts. The Southeast Region includes 46 teams, including No. 1 Florida, Florida State, South Florida and No. 25 Georgia, to name a few.
At Cougar Stadium
UCF holds a 0-3 record when playing at the Cougar Softball Stadium, falling to Houston last season in all three games of the C-USA series at the stadium. But, the Knights hold a 3-2 record when playing in the C-USA Softball Championship, defeating Marshall, Tulsa and East Carolina while hosting the tournament in 2007 at the UCF Softball Complex.
Performance to Remember
Allison Kime pitched her way onto the 2007 C-USA Softball Championship All-Tournament Team last season after posting a 0.41 ERA in 34 innings of work. The hurler held her opponents to only two earned runs, 18 hits and a .154 batting average, while striking out 23 batters.
Winning Ways
Going into this weekend's C-USA tournament, the Black and Gold have accumulated a 16-9 record in league-tournaments, including a 5-1 stint and the league-crown in the ASun Tournament in 2005. The Knights have posted a 3-2 record in post-season tournaments three different times, including last season in their first C-USA event.
The Knights look to clinch a spot in the NCAA Tournament when they compete for the Conference USA Softball Championship title May 8-10 at Houston. For tickets, visit c-usa.org. For the latest news and information on the Knights, tickets or apparel log on to www.ucfathletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. Also check out UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pics
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