ORLANDO – The UCF Softball team kicked off its 2020 season with a convincing, 8-0 victory over Indiana Thursday night at the UCF Softball Complex in Orlando, Fla. The battery of Karissa Ornelas and Alea White was on full display in the contest as White tossed her 16th career shutout and Ornelas muscled her first career home run to give The Black and Gold the win.
"It's just great to see them put it to the test and get it done," said UCF Softball Head Coach Cidy-Ball Malone. "They're just excited to get out here as a team, together... we still have some things to work on, but it's just fun to see how dynamic our team is."
Indiana threated with a runner in scoring position in just three innings all night, but White would not allow the Hoosiers to score, striking out eight and allowing just four hits in six innings of work en route to the shutout. She is just the second pitcher in UCF history to start three opening days for the Knights (Allison Kime, '06-'08). After posting a 1.61 ERA in 221.1 innings last season, White is off to a similar start in 2020.
The Knights struck first in the contest as freshman Jady Cody doubled to left in the bottom of the first to drive in a run and put UCF up, 1-0. Karissa Ornelas tacked onto the UCF lead with her first career home run in the second before tallying another RBI in the sixth.
Already up, 3-0, the UCF offense exploded in the sixth, scoring five more runs to grab the 8-0 lead, ending the game as a result of the run rule.
The Knights will continue their opening weekend Friday night at 5:30 pm as they square off once more with Indiana in the Black and Gold Tournament. They play two games on Saturday and two on Sunday to wrap up.
KEY MOMENTS
- Two Indiana baserunners threatened with one out in the top of the first, but Alea White kept the Hoosiers off the board with a strikeout and a flyball to left field to end the inning.
- Jada Cody notched the first run of the ball game with a double to left field in the bottom of the first, driving in Kyra Klarkowski, who led off the bottom of the first with a walk.
- Karissa Ornelas hit a home run to right-center field in the bottom of the second inning, her first of the season, to extend the UCF lead to 2-0.
- With an Indiana baserunner in scoring position and two away, White struck out the batter on three pitches to keep the score at 2-0 in the fourth inning.
- Ornelas hit a bloop single to left field for an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth to put UCF up 4-0.
- Back-to-back bases loaded walks brought the UCF lead to 6-0 in the same inning.
- A dropped pop fly at the plate by catcher Bella Norton allowed two more Knights runners to cross the plate, putting UCF up 8-0, to secure the game via run rule.
NOTABLES
- The game marked Alea White's 126th appearance, moving her to fourth all-time in the UCF Softball record books.
- The homerun from Ornelas marked her first of the season and her career.
- White is just the second pitcher in UCF history to start three opening days (Allison Kime, '06-'08).
- The shutout from White was the 16th of her career to move her to fifth all-time in the record books.
UP NEXT:
The Knights will continue their opening weekend Friday night at 5:30 pm as they square off once more with Indiana in the Black and Gold Tournament. They play two games on Saturday and two on Sunday to wrap up.
TICKETS FOR 2020
Fans can purchase tickets for the 2020 UCF softball season by calling (407) 823-1000 or online here.
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