March 9, 2010
| UCF vs. Maine March 9, 2010 |
| Orlando, Fla. (UCF Softball Complex) | ||||||||||
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| Maine | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 2 |
| UCF | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 1 |
Game Notes
? WP: Maine - Christine McGivney (1-2)
? LP: UCF - Kristina DeMello (1-4)
.
? Tiffany Lane claimed the Conference USA record for career triples with her three-bagger in the sixth inning. In only her third year at UCF, Lane has 20 triples.
? The loss to the Black Bears snapped the Knights' seven-game win streak.
? Natalie Land posted two doubles in the contest. The last time a Knight had two doubles in a game was when Abby McClain had a pair at UNF on Feb. 24.
? UCF continues its season-long 17-game homestand Wednesday when they welcome UConn to the UCF Softball Complex for a 1 p.m. contest.
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Junior Tiffany Lane (Moreno Valley, Calif.) hit a leadoff triple in the sixth inning Tuesday to stake claim on the Conference USA career triples record, despite the UCF softball team falling to visiting Maine, 6-4, at the UCF Softball Complex.
The record-breaking triple for Lane was the 20th of her career and fifth of the season. The league record was formerly held by DePaul's Sarah Martz, who tallied 19 triples for the Blue Demons from 2001-04.
"It felt pretty good to hit that triple and break the record," Lane said after the game. "It would have felt a lot better if we were able to pull out the win today, but I was just really glad that I was able to do it while my parents were in town to see it."
Besides Lane, who posted her triple and scored a run, sophomore Natalie Land (Mayo, Fla.) was also productive at the plate for the Knights. Land went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles and two runs scored, while also drawing a walk in the first inning.
Freshman Arielle Palafox (Lakewood, Calif.) posted two RBI, which included a RBI single in the third and a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning, and senior Hillary Barrow (Miami, Fla.) also had a hit and scored a run for the Black and Gold.
The Knights used three different pitchers in the outing, with Kristina DeMello (Mead, Wash.) getting tagged with the loss. The senior fell to 1-4 on the year after allowing five runs, three of which were earned, on seven hits in 4.1 inning of work.
Diana Rojas (Miami, Fla.) threw one inning of relief, allowing one unearned run on one hit and walking four, while junior Ashley Schmitt (Tampa, Fla.) finished the game for the home team in the circle. Schmitt shut down the Black Bears in 1.2 innings of relief, not allowing a hit or a run and striking out one.
UCF plated the first run of the game in the bottom of the third inning after Land opened the inning with a double to centerfield and Palafox brought her in with a RBI single down the left field line.
The Knights' lead did not last long, however, as the Black Bears followed suit with a run of their own in the top of the fourth inning and added five more runs in the top of the fifth.
With Land leading the charge once again, the Black and Gold cut Maine's lead in half in the bottom of the fifth inning after plating two runs. Land hit her second double of the contest to open the frame and moved third on a single by Barrow. Land scored on an error by the third baseman on a ground ball off the bat of Ashleigh Cole (Pace, Fla.), before a sacrifice fly by Palafox plated Barrow to make the score 6-3 through five innings of play.
Lane opened the bottom of the sixth inning with her fifth triple of the season and Vanessa Perez (San Diego, Calif.) knocked her in on a fielder's choice to the shortstop to cut the Black Bear's lead to two runs, but that's all UCF would manage as Maine would hold on for the win.
The loss to the Black Bears snapped the Knights' seven-game winning streak and dropped their record to 12-9 on the season.
UCF continues its 17-game homestand Wednesday with a 1 p.m. contest against Connecticut at the UCF Softball Complex.
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.
-UCF-