Feb. 18, 2010
| Game Day Essentials UCF Invitational |
UCF Invitational Game Notes
Knights' UCF Invitational Schedule
Friday, Feb. 19
? UCF vs. South Carolina - 3:30 p.m.
? UCF vs. North Florida - 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 20
? UCF vs. Villanova - 1:30 p.m.
? UCF vs. Troy - 6:00 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 21
? UCF vs. Florida A&M - 1:00 p.m.
Team Records
? UCF: 1-3
? South Carolina: 4-0
? North Florida: 1-6
? Villanova: 0-0
? Troy: 2-0
? Florida A&M: 0-1
Series Record
? vs. South Carolina: First Meeting
? vs. North Florida: 4-2
? vs. Villanova: 2-2
? vs. Troy: 9-3
? vs. Florida A&M: 6-2
Broadcast Information
? Radio: UCFAthletics.com
- Stretch Radio - On the Call: Eric Lopez
? Live Stats: UCFAthletics.com
- Gametracker
? Live Video: UCFAthletics.com
- Knights All-Access
Touranment Schedule and Information
? Tournament Central
QUICK HITS
? The Knights enter the 2010 UCF Invitational with a 1-3 record on the season following a 7-1 loss to Stetson Wednesday night at the UCF Softball Complex.
? As the host of the UCF Invitational in 2009, the Black and Gold posted a 3-1 record during the event, which including wins over Florida A&M, Maine and Tennessee State. The team's only loss of the tournament came at the hands of Syracuse.
? UCF is 6-3 all-time when hosting the UCF Invitational, while holding a 21-10 record when playing in its first home tournament of the year.
? UCF leads the all-time series against three of the five teams it will face during the UCF Invitational, including North Florida, Troy and Florida A&M. The Knights and Villanova are even in their all-time series, while Friday's meeting is the first between the Black and Gold and South Carolina.
? Following the UCF Invitational, the Knights will embark on a six-game road trip, their longest of the season, when it travels to Jacksonville Feb. 24, for its second match-up with UNF in a five-day span. After the contest with the Ospreys, UCF will continue to travel north to take part in the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Ga. There the Black and Gold will battle two teams ranked in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll, No. 9 Alabama and No. 10 Georgia Tech.
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - The UCF softball team is set to host the UCF Invitational this weekend at the UCF Softball Complex. The event, which runs from Feb. 19-21, will see the Knights facing five different teams, including South Carolina, North Florida, Villanova, Troy and Florida A&M.
The Black and Gold will open its portion of the schedule Friday with a 3:30 p.m. showdown with the Gamecocks, before closing out the opening day of the tournament with an 8 p.m. contest against the Ospreys. Saturday's schedule has the Knights battling the Wildcats at 1:30 p.m. and the Trojans at 6 p.m. The UCF Invitational will conclude Sunday with UCF taking on the Rattlers in a 1 p.m. contest.
TRIPLE THE FUN
After already posting two triples only four games into the 2010 season, junior Tiffany Lane is only three triples short of the C-USA all-time record. Lane, who already holds the UCF career record for three-baggers, tallied seven triples as a freshman before claiming a share of the NCAA Statistical Champion honors with eight triples as a sophomore. The junior tallied her first triple of 2010 in Saturday night's match-up with No. 7 Georgia and her second Wednesday night vs. Stetson.
No. 100
With her seventh strikeout of the evening Wednesday, senior Kristina DeMello registered her 100th career strikeout as a Knight. The hurler has totaled eight strikeouts in two appearances this season, while having tallied 92 strikeouts, an average of 5.8 Ks per game, in her first season at UCF in 2009.
ON EASY
Heading into the UCF Invitational this weekend, Tiffany Lane has reached safely in all four of the Knights' contest this season. The shortstop walked and scored a run in the win over Tennessee, posted a triple against No. 7 Georgia, walked and scored a run against Chattanooga and hit a RBI triple in the game against Stetson Wednesday.
CLIMBING THE CHART
Following her outing against Chattanooga on Feb. 14, senior Ashleigh Cole needs to pitch only 31.2 more innings to overtake the No. 2 spot on the UCF career record chart. Cole has put in 453.1 innings of work in the circle for the Black and Gold early in her fourth year.
SLUG IT 2010
Despite having only two hits on the season entering Friday's match-up with South Carolina, Tiffany Lane boasts a team-leading .600 slugging percentage. Both of Lane's hits on the year have been triples, giving the junior six total bases in 10 at bats.
PULLING HER WEIGHT
In three appearances in 2010, junior hurler Diana Rojas has more that pulled her weight. Rojas has not been credited with giving up a run in 4.1 innings of relief for the Knights, holding a 0.00 ERA and holding her opponents to a mere .143 batting average.
SCOUTING SOUTH CAROLINA
The Gamecocks are the only team in the UCF Invitational that the Knights have yet to face in their competitive history. Coming off at hot 2009 season where it competed in the SEC Western Divisional Championship against Alabama, the team will come to the UCF Softball Complex on a four game winning streak, including two wins against Longwood. Helping the Game Cock out are Jill Semento, who garnered NFCA/Louisville Slugger All-Southwest Region accolades in 2009, and Evan Childs, who tied the single game doubles record in the Gamecock's win over Longwood on February 16.
SCOUTING NORTH FLORIDA
The Ospreys come into the UCF Invitational 1-4 on the year and hungry for a win. In its last outing, UNF dropped both games of a doubleheader against the Troy Tuesday in Jacksonville. The Ospreys fell in the first game 6-4, and again in the secondm, 3-1, in extra innings. The Osprey come in behind in the series against the Knights, 2-4.
SCOUTING VILLANOVA
Coming off a 23-26 season in 2009, the Wildcats come into the UCF Invitational with eight straight fall-ball wins. Returning to the squad are three noted pitchers, Caitlyn Delahaba, Molly Manning and Adrienne Drummond, who look to make a statement in 2010. The last time the Knights and the Wildcats faced each other was in 2009 at the UCF Early Bird Invitational. UCF looks to avenge last year's loss to Villanova who took the game 5-3 on February 13. The Knights look to go ahead in the series that currently sits at 2-2.
SCOUTING TROY
Once an Atlantic Sun rival, Troy comes into the UCF Invitational behind in the overall series against the Knights, 3-9. Before being knocked out of the Sun Belt tournament in 2009, the Trojans finished the season with 13-15 conference record. Following a doubleheader sweep against North Florida Tuesday, Troy hopes to continue the winning streak this weekend at the UCF Softball Complex.
SCOUTING FLORIDA A&M
A tough MEAC competitor, Florida A&M will make the commute to the UCF Softball Complex looking to avenge last year's 7-0 loss to the Knights. In 2009, the Rattlers made it to the MEAC finals, dropping the series to Bethune-Cookman. Florida A&M will return eight upper-classman and bring on seven new comers, including former Knight, Tenisha Dixon.
Season tickets for the 2010 season are only $40 and are on sale now, while single-game tickets are also available for purchase. Tickets can be purchased online at UCFAthletics.com or through the Athletics Ticket Office by calling (407) 823-1000.
For the latest news on the Knights, log on to www.UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF's new online apparel store. Also visit www.UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.
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