No. 5 UCF vs No. 4 Wichita State |
HOUSTON, Texas (UCFKnights.com) – The No. 5 UCF softball squad heads to the American Athletic Conference Tournament to open the quarterfinal round against No. 4 Wichita State Thursday afternoon around 12 p.m.
All contests will be played at the University of Houston and hosted by the Cougars.
The game will begin 37 minutes after the conclusion of the first scheduled game of the day at 10:05 a.m.
All games in the tournament will be streamed live for free on The American Digital Network and live stats will also be available. The Championship game will be played on Saturday and will be featured on ESPN2.
The Knights enter the tournament with a four-game winning streak after sweeping Memphis in the final series of the regular season. UCF is 34-20 overall and 11-10 in conference play as they prepare for the single elimination tournament.
THE OPPONENT
- Wichita State enters the weekend with a 31-24 overall record and 12-9 in conference play.
- In their last seven games, the Shockers have played seven teams ranked in the top-25 where they went 3-4 after losing to No. 1 Oklahoma, then losing the series to No. 25 Tulsa, and rebounded with a series win against No. 25 South Florida to close out the regular season.
- In the all-time series between the Knights and Shockers, Wichita State holds the advantage, 5-1.
- In the series this season with the Shockers, the Knights won the Friday game to start the weekend off with a win in their 11th consecutive win but dropped the next two games as Wichita State took the series.
- The Shockers won four series this year and enters the tournament with the fourth best winning percentage in conference games and ended the season with a series win over No.1 seed South Florida.
- Wichita State took home six All-Conference accolades: four First-Team, one Second-Team, and one All-Rookie honoree.
KNIGHT BITES
- ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS: The UCF softball squad honed took home five American Athletic Conference accolades Wednesday afternoon. Pitcher Alea White earned First-Team All-Conference, Cassady Brewer earned Second-Team All-Conference as a catcher, and Breanna Vasquez, Karissa Ornelas, and Damaria Cannon each earned a spot on the All-Rookie Team.
- IT'S GONNA BE MAY: The Knights are 4-0 in the month of May heading into the conference tournament. UCF defeated UNF then swept Memphis in their final regular season series. UCF enters the weekend on a four-game win streak.
- TOURNEY HISTORY IN HOUSTON: UCF is 7-2 in conference tournament battles in Houston. In 2008, the Knights went 3-0 to win the C-USA Conference Tournament defeating Houston. In 2010, UCF went 2-1 and finished runner-up, and in 2014 the Knights went 2-1 in the first Tournament for The American to finish runner-up.
- DOUBLE THE FUN: The Knights pace the conference in total doubles and doubles per game and have been the majority of the season. UCF totals 77 on the year and averaging 1.43 two-baggers per game. Cassady Brewer led the Knights with 16 doubles.
- START OF AN E.R.A: The duo of Alea White and Breanna Vasquez have dominated in the circle all season. The two hold the best ERA in the conference and 14th best in all of Division I with a 1.87 earned run average combined.
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