May 7, 2011
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By Sarah Tarasewicz
UCFAthletics.com
HOUSTON, Texas (UCFAthletics.com) - Senior Tiffany Lane (Moreno Valley, Calif.) posted three of UCF's seven hits Saturday afternoon as the softball team fell twice at Houston in a Conference USA doubleheader at Cougar Softball Stadium. The Knights dropped the first game, 2-0, before losing the nightcap, 4-0.
With the pair of losses the Black and Gold fell to 21-30 on the year and clinched the No. 6 seed heading into the C-USA Championship hosted by East Carolina next weekend with an 11-12 league record. The Cougars remain tied with Tulsa for the conference lead with an 18-5 C-USA record, while boasting a 38-15 overall record.
Game One - UCF 0, Houston 2
The Knights and the Cougars finished the opening contest tied with four hits apiece, but it was Houston who was able to get timely hits to take the 2-0 victory and lock the Black and Gold into the No. 6 seed for the C-USA Championship.
Allie Jest (Stone Mountain, Ga.), Natalie Land (Mayo, Fla.), Tiffany Lane (Moreno Valley, Calif.) and Kellie Todd (Ocala, Fla.) accounted for each of UCF's four hits, with Land adding a stolen base to her team-best total of 25 swipes.
Senior Diana Rojas (Miami, Fla.) was tagged with the loss in the circle for the Black and Gold to fall to 9-12 on the season. The hurler allowed only two runs, one of which was earned, on four hits with three walks and a strikeout in a complete-game outing.
The home team took a one-run advantage in the first inning on Holly Anderson's solo home run down the left field line, before taking a two-run lead in the bottom of the fourth after scoring a single run on a single, an UCF error and a double.
The Knights had runners in scoring position in the third and fourth, sixth and seventh innings, but was not able to get the key hit to bring around a score.
Game Two - UCF 0, Houston 4
Lane posted two of her three hits on the day in the nightcap, but once again the Black and Gold was not able to come up with clutch hits to bring runners around as it fell, 4-0. Patrice Fee (Cocoa, Fla.) tallied UCF's addition hit in the contest, as Houston starter Amanda Crabtree struck out 12 Knights in her complete-game outing.
For the Black and Gold, Lacey Dinney (Binbrook, Ont.) took the loss in the circle after allowing four runs on seven hits and two walks in 6.0 innings of work. The loss dropped the junior's record to 11-9 on the year.
Houston once again took an early lead on the Knights in game two, scoring two runs in the first inning and single runs in both the third and fourth frames, but the Black and Gold could not answer back, stranding three runners on base.
UCF will close out its series vs. the Cougars Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
Following the series at Houston, the Knights will return to Greenville, N.C., May 12-14 for the 2011 C-USA Softball Championship. The Black and Gold will be the No. 6 seed entering the tournament next weekend and will face the No. 3 seed at 7 p.m. Thursday night, pending East Carolina's game-time selection as the host team.