May 17, 2015
UCF Athletics Social Media Directory
By Megan Herboth
UCFKnights.com
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) -- UCF Softball's historic season came to an end at JoAnne Graf Field on Sunday afternoon with a 5-0 loss to No. 9 Florida State in the championship of the Tallahassee Regional.
UCF finished with a 50-9 overall, setting a program record for the most wins and the fewest losses in a season. The Knights, ranked 13th in the nation, fell to the top seeded Seminoles, who are ranked ninth in the country.
"It was a hard fought weekend," UCF head coach Renee Luers-Gillispie. "(It was) good to be able to have that kind of competition in a regional and I felt our girls did a great job of fighting through that. We did our very best, but just came up a little bit short."
The Knights made the sixth NCAA appearance in program history, with the season marking the first time they have gone in back-to-back campaigns. UCF won both the American Athletic Conference regular season and conference tournament titles for the first time in school history.
"In thirteen years of this program we started from the very beginning," Gillispie said. "If you look two years ago, we were barely over five-hundred. To see these seniors break in and set up a legacy for us now, it gives us a chance to really take that next step and that's what we're working towards."
Senior Mackenzie Audas, who closed out her UCF career tossing the final five innings of the game while allowing just one hit, is the winningest pitcher in school history with 78 victories. Both Audas (0.95) and junior Shelby Turnier (0.87) turned in earned run averages below 1.00 and posted the lowest team ERA in UCF history at 0.93. Senior Kahley Novak set the program record with 125 stolen bases.
In the bottom of the second inning, junior Jessica Ujvari led off with a single to left field, and freshman pinch runner Megan Greenwell advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, but was left stranded at the end of the inning.
Florida State used a pair of hits to take a 2-0 lead in the top of the third and added to it in the top of the fourth, leading the Knights 5-0.
Novak opened the bottom of the seventh with a base hit through the left side and moved to second on a wild pitch. She tied the single season record for steals, moving to third with her 43rd theft of the season. A foul pop-up ended the game.
UCF Softball is presented by City Kia of Greater Orlando.