STORRS, Conn. (UCFKnights.com) – Behind the arm of Alea White, the UCF softball squad picked up their 26th win of the season after taking the first game of the doubleheader with the UConn Huskies, 8-3.
White struck out 10 in the win, tying her career high. With the win, White becomes the seventh pitcher in program history to record at least 20 wins. Shelby Turnier was the last UCF pitcher to accomplish this feat in 2016.
Cassady Brewer led the Knights offensively at the plate going 3-for-5 with a pair of home runs and two walks on the day posting a 2.000 slugging percentage. Denali Schappacher also grabbed three hits while scoring two runs.
The Knights dropped the second game, 11-3, to move to 26-14 overall and 6-2 in the American Athletic Conference.
GAME ONE
The Knights drew first blood after Kyra Klarkowski ripped a double to right center and scored after Erin Emanuel hit an infield single to go up 1-0 on the Huskies.
UCF tacked on another run in the third after Schappacher lined a pitch down the first base line for the Knights' second double of the afternoon. With one out, Brewer doubled to right field scoring Schappacher for the 2-0 lead.
The Huskies got a pair of runs back in the bottom of the third after a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch and a walk to knot the score at 2-2.
The tie wouldn't last long as the Knights put together six runs in the next two innings. In the sixth, Klarkowski led the inning off with a single to right field and Tamesha Glover moved her over to second and into scoring position. Megan Greenwell delivered an infield single to move Klarkowski over to third. With two outs, Schappacher singled to center field scoring Klarkowski.
With a 3-2 count, Brewer blasted a ball over the left field fence for a three-run home run. Aubrey Johnson followed Brewer and answered with a home run of her own to left to go up 8-2 on UConn.
The Huskies grabbed another run in the bottom of the sixth with a home run of their own to make it a final score of 8-3.
White tied her career-high striking out 10 Huskies and posted a 1.76 earned run average in her 20th win of the season.
GAME TWO
The Knights fell behind early after UConn put up a four-run second inning, but UCF quickly answered with a pair of runs in the top of the third.
Glover led off the inning with a double to center field and advanced to third on a passed ball. Brewer drew a walk to put two runners on for the Knights to bring up Johnson, who was able to reach off a Huskie miscue to plate Glover.
Kaitlyn Jensen then drew a walk to load the bases and the Knights scored their second run after Jazmine Esparza was hit-by-pitch to make a 4-2 game.
The Huskies collected two more runs in the bottom of the third and in the fourth to go up 8-2 on UCF.
In the fifth with one out, Brewer swung at the first pitch and belted the ball opposite field for the second time on the day to make it 8-3.
The Huskies put an end to the contest throwing up three more runs in the bottom of the fifth to take the game, 11-3.
Four UCF pitchers saw action in the second game with White picking up the loss.
ON DECK
The rubber match between the Knights and the Huskies is slated for Sunday, April 8 at 12 p.m. Live stats and a live stream can be found on the UCF softball schedule page.
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