HOUSTON, Texas (UCFKnights.com) - A trio of home runs breezed the UCF Knights past Houston Friday evening after they trounced the Cougars, 7-2, for their sixth consecutive victory.
Alea White picked up her 18th win of the season, striking out six Cougars and allowing just six hits and two runs.
Aubrey Johnson went 3-for-4 with a home run and a pair of RBI in the win, while Cassady Brewer and Jazmine Esparza also added a home run each.
Megan Greenwell continues to etch her name in the record books as she tied Maddy Schroeder for sixth all-time for stolen bases with 55 after stealing second in the win over Houston.
UCF moves to 24-12 overall and is undefeated in the American Athletic Conference with a 5-0 record, while Houston falls to 21-12 and 2-3 in The American.
UCF drew first blood in the first inning with a home run to straight-away center by Johnson to go up 1-0. Courtney Rotton followed by drawing a walk to bring up Brewer, who crushed a shot over the right field fence to add two more runs in the inning to extend the Knights' lead to 3-0.
In the second, it was Johnson again who brought in another run for the Knights, roping a single to the left side to push Greenwell across to take a commanding 4-0 lead.
The offense continued in the third when Hayley Bejarano drew a walk to bring up Esparza. The sophomore fouled off 10 pitches before hammering a ball up in the zone and bruising the scoreboard in left field for the Knights' second two-run shot of the evening to go up 6-0 on the Cougars.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Cougars mustered up one run with a sacrifice fly to right field, but the Knights' defense held tight and left Houston with the bases loaded.
UCF got the run back in the fifth inning as Brewer led off the inning drawing a walk and Kendyl Lange entered the game to pinch run for Brewer. Kaitlyn Jensen moved Lange over to second and Bejarano laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Lange to third. Kyra Klarkowski roped a ball through the left side and scored Lange to extend the Knights' lead to 7-1.
Houston's Arielle James collected a home run in the seventh inning in a last chance effort, but the UCF defense shut the Cougars down for a 7-2 final.
ON DECK
The final game in the series is slated for Saturday, March 31 with a start time of 1 p.m. EST as the Knights go for their second straight conference sweep. Live stats and a live stream are available via the UCF softball schedule page.
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