ORLANDO – The Knights dominated in their home opener on Friday night, beating New Mexico State by scoring a program best 18 runs to come away with the 18-1 victory in five innings at the UCF Softball Complex.
"They say hitting is contagious," said UCF Softball head coach Cindy Ball-Malone. "We didn't settle in any inning and we continued to stay disciplined and swing at our pitches. Sometimes, once you get a few big hits, people start to try and lift the ball and get out in front. I just applaud our offense for staying disciplined, sticking to their plan, and staying within their own swings".
Starting pitcher Alea White shut down the Aggie bats, striking out seven in four innings, giving up one run, zero earned, on three hits and three walks. Angelina DeVoe shut the door with a one, two, three fifth inning.
With the win, White tied Shelby Turnier for the UCF record for most wins in school history with 80. The senior has been a mainstay in the UCF rotation her entire career and is already 3-0 in her three starts this season.
The UCF bats came to play, scoring four runs in each of the first two innings, six in the third, and four in the fourth. The 18-run outburst is tied for the most ever in program history. The Knights scored 18 in five innings on March 5th, 2008, against Bethune-Cookman. The 17-run win is the largest margin of victory ever. This all happened behind 17 hits, two of which were home runs.
Key Moments
- NMSU opened the scoring in the first on an E4 to score Ramsay Lopez, putting the Aggies up 1-0
- UCF freshman Kennedy Searcy stole second base after walking in the bottom of the first. She later scored on a single by Juliana Wilson to tie the game at one apiece.
- A three-run homer to deep left-center by Jazmine Esparza in the bottom of the first made it 4-1 Knights.
- A bomb to dead center by Georgia Blair made it 6-1 UCF in the second.
- An error by the NMSU right fielder allowed two more Knights run to cross the plate in the second to make it 8-1 Knights.
- Katie Burge reached base on an error in the bottom of the third and scored two batters later, making the score 9-1 UCF.
- In the same inning, a two-run double from Esparza brought the score to 11-1 Knights.
- Three RBI singles in the third made it 14-1 UCF.
- Three RBI singles in the fourth made it 18-1 Knights.
NOTABLES
- Kennedy Searcy stole two more bags in the contest, bringing her total up to six on the season.
- Thirteen runs were the previous high under head coach Cindy-Ball Malone, set against FGCU in the first game of the 2021 season. Before that, it was 11 runs against Indiana in 2020.
- 18 runs are the most in a UCF home opener.
- Georgia Blair hit her fourth homer of the season.
- Jazmine Esparza's home run was her first of the season.
- Seven strikeouts from White are the second-most this season
UP NEXT
The Knights will be back at it on Saturday for another matchup with NMSU. The game is scheduled for a 3:00 p.m. first pitch at the UCF Softball Complex.
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