ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – In the first contest of the annual Black and Gold Games, Gold posted a 7-3 victory over Black on Monday morning at the UCF Softball Complex. Sophomore Jazmine Esparza with 5-for-5 to pace Gold, while classmate Tamesha Glovver added four hits and two RBI.
A two-hit and two-RBI performance was also registered by sophomore Damara Begin. Freshman Denali Schappacher also tallied two base knocks for Gold, who recorded a game-high 15 hits.
Black was led by senior Megan Greenwell, who went 3-for-4, while junior Brooke Barlow tallied two hits and one RBI.
After the first inning, Black clung to a 1-0 lead by manufacturing a run off of starter Alea White, who tallied three strikeouts and tossed four innings to earn the win. Esparza and Glover led off the next two frames and sparked Gold to a three-run second and two-run third inning.
Black cut its deficit to 5-2 in the third frame on an RBI single by Barlow.
A two-out rally in the fifth frame was started by Esparza with a run-scoring base hit before Glover extended the advantage to 7-2.
Looking to respond, Black notched a sac fly from sophomore Aubrey Johnson to push across a run.
With two on and one out for Black in the sixth inning, a liner off the bat of senior Courtney Rotton was grabbed by third baseman Hayley Bejarano, who turned an inning-ending double play to end the final threat by black.
The teams are back in action on Wednesday at 10 a.m. The final game is set to be played under the lights at 7 p.m. Thursday.
