May 22, 2010
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - The UCF softball team saw its impressive 2010 campaign come to a close Saturday night, as the squad suffered a 7-0 loss to FIU in its third game at the NCAA Gainesville Regional at Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium.
The Knights concluded the season with a 36-23 overall record and a 16-7 Conference USA mark, while making its second appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the last three years.
UCF used three pitchers in the defeat, with junior Diana Rojas (Miami, Fla.) getting tagged with the loss in the circle. Rojas allowed three runs on four hits and walked three in three complete innings of work to drop her record to 2-2 on the year.
Senior Kristina DeMello (Mead, Wash.) threw 0.2 innings of relief, walking two batters in the outing, before Cole entered the game with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. The senior allowed four runs on five hits and stuck out one batter in 2.1 innings of relief.
Cole was one of five seniors to play in their last game as a Knight, as Hillary Barrow (Miami, Fla.), Morgan Bullard (Columbia, S.C.), DeMello and Mary Helen Tyler (Marianna, Fla.) saw their careers come to a close.
Cole finished her career at UCF as one of the top pitchers to come through the program, ranking second all-time in nine UCF pitching categories and in the top-four in 14. This season alone, Cole posted wins over three ranked opponents, including No. 16 Tennessee, No. 9 Alabama and No. 22 Ohio State.
Offensively, the Knights posted five hits in the contest, which included one each from Tyler, Tiffany Lane (Moreno Valley, Calif.), Natalie Land (Mayo, Fla.), Marissa Menendez (Tampa, Fla.) and Vanessa Perez (San Diego, Calif.).
The Golden Panthers put two runs on the board in the bottom of the first inning on a sacrifice fly and an infield grounder, combined with two walks and an illegal pitch.
FIU would tally another run in the third frame, before tacking on a pair of scores in both the fifth and sixth innings, not giving the Knights any room to make a comeback late in the game.
The Knights were getting runners aboard throughout the contest, but ended up stranding six runners on the base paths, which included five runners that were in scoring postion.
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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