PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (UCFKnights.com) – For the second-consecutive season, UCF makes the cross-country trip to Palm Springs, Calif., for the Mary Nutter Classic. The Knights are set to take on Cal Poly, No. 9 UCLA, California and Loyola Marymount on Friday and Saturday.
Each of UCF's games at the Mary Nutter Classic can be watched via FloSoftball, a subscription-based service.
The schedule has been revised with inclement weather forecasted on Friday evening. The Knights open the tournament on Friday with against Cal Poly and No. 9 UCLA, starting at 10 a.m. ET. California and Loyola Marymount take on the Knights on Saturday beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET.
Any further updates or changes to game times and schedules can be found by following @UCF_Softball on Twitter.
The trip to California is a homecoming for a quartet of Knights - seniors Brittany Solis (West Hills), Linnea Goodman (Long Beach) and freshmen Autumn Gillespie (Redlands) and Jazmine Esparza (Sylmar).
UCF
The Knights went 2-3 to open the season, notching a pair of victories over Florida A&M. UCF fell to Pittsburgh, which is now ranked, twice, and dropped a contest to No. 17 Kentucky.
With a number of freshmen on the squad, Alea White impressed and provided the Black and Gold with a chance to register victories against Kentucky and Pittsburgh. The Land O'Lakes, Fla., native recorded 16 strikeouts over 20 innings and adjusted to facing Division I hitters as the weekend progressed.
Another freshman in Tamesha Glover delivered three RBI, included a game-tying two run single on Feb. 12 against Pittsburgh in the third inning. Junior Courtney Rotton blasted a solo homer against Kentucky.
Scouting the Field
Cal Poly (4-1) notched consecutive victories to start the season over Purdue, San Diego, Creighton and Western Michigan before falling to No. 9 Oregon. The Mustangs have a workhorse in the circle in Sierra Hyland, who is 3-1 with a 0.91 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 23.0 innings. Chelsea Convissar and Amanda Sandoval lead the offense with .429 batting averages, while five runs have been driven in by Hyland.
UCLA is currently 6-1 after topping South Dakota, San Diego State, Webber State (2), Notre Dame and Kentucky. Rachel Garcia (3-1) has compiled a 0.30 ERA with 29 strikeouts in 23.2 innings to pace the Bruins. A team-high nine RBI and 15 hits have been recorded by Kylee Perez. The Bruins have connected on 13 home runs in their first seven games.
Cal (4-1) began the campaign in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and notched a pair of wins over Georgia Tech, a two-game split vs. North Carolina and a victory against Illinois. The Golden Bears are led in the circle by Zoe Conley, who has posted a 2-1 overall mark with a 1.00 ERA and 17 strikeouts over 21.0 innings. Jazmyn Jackson has a team-best three RBI, while Kobie Pettis has driven in a pair of runs.
Loyola Marymount (2-3) registered wins against North Dakota State and Utah State to open the campaign. A team-best four RBI each have been tallied by Ari Pogni and Alicia Brown. The pitching staff is led by Hannah Bandimere (1-1) with a 2.08 ERA and nine strikeouts in 13.0 frames of work.
Series History
The Knights only prior meeting with Cal Poly came in a 7-4 victory on Feb. 20, 2004. The lone time UCF and Loyola Marymount met on the field was on Feb. 15, 2003, which LMU took 3-2. This is the first matchup between UCF and Cal, while the Knights are looking for their first victory in four tries against UCLA.
Next Up
UCF continues play away from home with a trip to the Easton Bama Bash on Feb. 24-26. The Knights will take on tournament-host Alabama and Gardner-Webb twice along with a meeting vs. Texas Tech.
