Feb. 28, 2013
UCF Athletics Social Media Directory
By Andrew Jennette
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Winners of 10 of its last 12, the UCF softball team is ready to celebrate spring break in front of its home fans starting on Friday in the UCF Spring Fling tournament at the UCF Softball Complex.
The Knights begin play with a double header on Friday beginning with a 4 p.m. matchup against future BIG EAST foe Villanova, followed by a 6:30 p.m. contest with Ole Miss. The tournament concludes for UCF on Saturday with another double dip, as the Knights will face another future BIG EAST opponent, Connecticut, at 4 p.m. followed by a showdown with Penn at 6:30 p.m. The tournament wraps up on Sunday with a pair of games, but UCF is not scheduled to compete.
UCF fans can follow all the action on UCF All-Access with live video and the voice of UCF softball, Eric Lopez. Fans can also follow on UCFAthletics.com Gametracker as well as www.twitter.com/UCF_Softball. For more information on the UCF Spring Fling tournament, fans can visit our tournament central page here http://www.ucfathletics.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/2013-spring-fling.html.
The Knights come into the weekend with a record of 10-7 overall with a 5-2 mark at home. The Black and Gold have a vastly improved offense from a year ago as they lead Conference USA in runs scored with 68. UCF has six starters hitting over .300 led by freshman left fielder Jasmine Acevedo. The Knights' pitching has also been strong. Reigning Conference USA Pitcher of the Year, Mackenzie Audas, is 5-4 with a 2.43 ERA in nine starts while freshman Shelby Turnier is 4-2 with a 3.00 ERA in seven contests.
On Friday, the Black and Gold will open against Villanova. The Wildcats (4-1) have a tough freshman pitcher in Kate Poppe. Poppe finished her first-collegiate weekend with a 4-0 record, an 0.74 ERA and only gave up 12 hits and five runs in 24.1 innings pitched. The second matchup on Friday will pit the Knights against SEC foe Ole Miss. The Rebels (12-8) are riding an eight-game winning streak after sweeping a doubleheader against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Wednesday. Ole Miss' eight-game winning streak is the second longest in program history, and the longest since 2002.
On Saturday, UCF goes head-to-head with UConn. The Huskies enter the weekend with a 5-4 overall mark after going 3-2 at the FAU Strike-Out Cancer Tournament last weekend. UConn had a strong start to the tournament taking three straight victories before dropping the final two games. The final matchup of the weekend for the Knights comes against Penn. The Red and Blue returns its entire starting lineup from last season's Ivy League South Division championship team. That roster consists of eight 2012 All-Ivy players, including three first-team honorees. Penn went 33-17 last season, and 16-7 in the Ivies, which was the best record in program history.
The Black and Gold will play four of their 21 remaining home games at the UCF Softball Complex this weekend, with season tickets for the 2013 season costing only $30. Tickets are available for purchase online at UCFAthletics.com and Ticketmaster.com, or by calling the UCF Athletics Ticket Office at 407-823-1000.