#24 UCF Beats Liberty 3-0, Coach Bear Earns Win #100 as a Knight#24 UCF Beats Liberty 3-0, Coach Bear Earns Win #100 as a Knight

#24 UCF Beats Liberty 3-0, Coach Bear Earns Win #100 as a Knight

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ORLANDO, Fla. – The UCF softball team earned their straight victory and first shutout of the season, blanking Liberty 3-0 on Tuesday night. It was the 100th win for head coach Cindy Ball-Malone at UCF, and number 199 of her career.

"Dominant pitching, great defense and clutch hitting," said Ball-Malone. "We left too many runners on. We squared some balls up but they made some great defensive plays. I'd like to see us hit the ball where we want to in those situations. Love the competitiveness and the production from Kama and our defense behind her and Gianna coming in to close the game."

The Knights scored in the first inning for the third straight game via a few free passes and a hit by pitch. Denali Schappacher led off the inning with a base knock up the middle before Shannon Doherty and Johneisha Rowe walked. Maddie Bejarano got hit with a pitch, driving in Schappacher from third to give UCF the 1-0 edge.

Liberty was set up to level the game in their half of fourth, loading the bases with two outs in the inning, but were ultimately shut down as UCF starter Kama Woodall forced a ground out to the right side.

The bottom of the inning saw the Knights tack on two more runs as Jada Cody doubled to left-center field, scoring Micaela Macario and Justene Molina. Cody is the first member of the Black and Gold to reach double digit RBI, earning her ninth and tenth with one swing of the bat.

The scoreboard stayed the way it was for the rest of the contest for both sides. Woodall continued to dominate the Flames batters, mowing through them and registering 6.1 innings of three-hit softball. The redshirt senior earned two punch outs and surrendered just one walk and zero earned runs, dropping her season ERA to an even 1.00. It was her first start as a Knight and her fourth appearance as a member of the Black and Gold and now sits at 2-0 early in the season.

Gianna Mancha entered the contest with one out and a runner on in the top of the seventh. She got the first batter to go down swinging before walking the following Liberty hitter. Mancha got the following Flame to roll over on one to end the game. She earned her seventh career save, jumping into a tie of third with Alea White on UCF's all-time list.

Schappacher and Bejarano registered multi-hit games for the Black and Gold. Bejarano went a perfect 2-for-2 with the hit by pitch and RBI while Schappacher went 2-for-4. Bejarano leads the team in batting average with a .600 clip, followed by Cody at .438 and Schappacher at .429.

The Knights improve to 6-0 all time against Liberty, beating the Flames by a combined score of 23-6.

The victory is number 100 for coach Ball-Malone at UCF and the 199th of her career. She is now 100-46-2 at the helm of the Knights, earning her a .682 winning percentage. Collectively, she is 199-162-2 in her career, coaching at Boise State for four seasons prior to her arrival in Orlando. Her first chance to grab her 200th career victory.

"100 wins makes me think of the great teams and a winning tradition," said Ball-Malone. "I got to come into a winning program and pitching wins a lot of ballgames. We've always had great pitching here. I got to take a picture of the three that got all 100 wins with me, Denali, White and Damaria Cannon, they've all contributed to that as well. I'm blessed to be a part of a very successful program with players that buy into our culture. It got here quick."


UP NEXT
The Knights will head to Clearwater, Fla. to participate in the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational, arguably the premiere tournament in the college softball world. UCF will open the trip against Wisconsin on Thursday at 1 p.m. on ESPNU. While on the west coast of Florida, the Black and Gold will face four ranked opponents as they're scheduled to face No. 19 Michigan, Texas Tech, No. 18 Tennessee, No. 11 Texas and No. 5 Florida State.

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