May 6, 2016
Final Stats
No. 25 UCF - East Carolina Game One stats
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) - The No. 25 UCF softball team out-hit East Carolina, but the Pirates used timely hitting to claim a 2-1 victory over the Knights in the American Athletic Conference series opener at the UCF Softball Complex on Friday evening.
"I felt like we were in it," head coach Renee Luers-Gillispie said. "ECU just came to play. They had the key hits when they needed it. We were hitting well; we were hitting hard. We just were hitting at people, and it didn't fall where we needed it to fall."
UCF (33-19, 10-4 The American) knocked seven hits to ECU's four. Junior Linnea Goodman and freshman Cassady Brewer each had a pair of hits for the Knights. Senior Samantha McCloskey went 1-for-2 with an RBI and a walk.
East Carolina pushed the first run of the game across in the top of the third. A triple down the right field line put Kelsi Briggs in scoring position and a sacrifice fly from Casey Alcorn allowed her to score. The Pirates held a 1-0 lead going into the fourth inning.
Senior Jamie Ujvari and the UCF defense retired the Pirates in order in the next two innings, holding the ECU advantage to just one run heading to the bottom of the sixth. Ujvari finished with five strikeouts in the contest.
With one out, Cassady Brewer doubled to left center in the bottom of the sixth. Samantha McCloskey drove in the tying run with a double to center field, pulling the Knights even at 1-1 heading to the seventh inning.
A leadoff double for East Carolina in the seventh put the winning run at second base. A wild pitch moved Ali Ramirez to third, and she scored on a sacrifice fly to put the visitors ahead, 2-1. The Knights were retired in order in the bottom of the inning to give the series opener to the Pirates.
Next up
The Knights continue action at the UCF Softball Complex on Saturday. UCF and East Carolina are slated for a 6 p.m. first pitch, with UCF women's basketball head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson throwing out the first pitch. The regular season finale will start at noon on Sunday.
Story by Megan Herboth; Video by Chip Fontanazza and Jason Renaud