ORLANDO – The bats came alive and Gianna Mancha was lights out in the circle in the series finale against ECU on Sunday as the No. 24 UCF softball team defeated the Pirates, 8-0, at Max R. Joyner Family Stadium in Greenville, North Carolina to sweep the series.
The Knights improved to 29-9 overall with a 9-3 mark in the American Athletic Conference.
Mancha was phenomenal in the circle for the Knights in the series finale, allowing just three hits en route to the seven-inning complete game shutout. She allowed a base runner to reach scoring position in just three innings. The win moves Mancha to 10-3 on the year.
Offensively, the Knights had 10 hits on the day to rally for eight unanswered runs. Two players had multi-hit days in Justene Molina, who batted leadoff for the first time this season, and Kaitlyn Jensen. Meanwhile, Juliana Wilson and Jazmine Esparza also had solid days at the plate, turning in two RBI each.
The Knights will next turn their attention to No. 5 Florida as UCF will travel to Gainesville on April 14 for their second showdown with the Gators this season. The Knights took down Florida at the UCF Softball Complex, 8-6, on March 24.
Key Moments
- Kyra Klarkowski hit a sacrifice-fly in the top of the second to drive in a run and put UCF up 1-0.
- The next batter, Jazmine Esparza, singled to right to drive in another and extend the Knights' lead to 2-0.
- Later in the inning, an RBI groundout from Juliana Wilson would bring home another UCF run, making it a 3-0 game.
- With runners on second and third and one away in the sixth, Esparza grounded out to drive in another run for the Knights to give them a 4-0 lead.
- The next batter, Justene Molina, singled to center to drive in a run and put UCF up 5-0.
- Juliana Wilson doubled to drive in Molina and put UCF up 6-0.
- A Jada Cody RBI single in the seventh would give the Knights the 7-0 lead and an ECU error on the same play would allow another UCF runner to cross the plate, putting the black and gold up 8-0.
NOTABLES
- With the win, UCF moves to 29-9, 9-3 on the year.
- The win moves Mancha to 10-3 on the season.
- The sweep marked UCF's second conference sweep of the season (Houston).
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