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Mancha Tosses No-Hitter, Schappacher Earns 200th Career Hit

Box Score Game 2 (PDF) Box Score Game 1 (PDF)

ORLANDO – It was a historic day for the No. 24 UCF softball team as they swept Furman in a double header by a score of 8-0 and 8-4. Gianna Mancha was masterful in the circle, tossing her second career no-hitter in game one, throwing six innings of no-hit ball while striking out eight. The second game saw Denali Schappacher become just one of ten Knights in program history to earn 200 career hits. As a team, the Black and Gold extended their win streak to 14 games.

GAME ONE
The Knights started game one with a bang, posting a three spot in each of the first two innings. The first frame saw Jada Cody drill one to right-center field, scoring Johneisha Rowe who led off the inning with a walk. Shan Doherty reached on a single and then stole second, putting two Knights in scoring position. Ashleigh Griffin stayed hot at the plate, smacking one through the right side to drive in Cody. Damaria Cannon pinch-ran for Griffin and got in a pickle between first and second, allowing Doherty to scramble home to put the Black and Gold up 3-0. The following inning saw Kennedy Searcy launch a three-run shot out to straight away centerfield, giving UCF a 6-0 advantage. The blast was Searcy's third of the year.

Things remained quiet through the next three frames. Mancha kept Furman's bats hushed throughout the game and allowed no hits through six innings of work. She punched out eight Paladins and was missing barrels all afternoon.

Cody, who caught Mancha in the contest, stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded in the home half of the sixth with a chance to end the game via the run rule. She did exactly that, ripping her second double of the day and driving in a pair to end the game, sealing Mancha's second career no-hit bid.

"I told Gianna 'I want our pitch count down and I want to throw more strikes,' and we threw like 24 pitches in the first inning," said head coach Cindy Ball-Malone. "Then she got back on track with the six-pitch inning. She makes the ball dance and wiggle and hits her spots. Today she was throwing a little bit more curve than we normally do. That's what makes Gianna so good; she can throw all the pitches and when something's on she can run with it and mix speeds."

It is the 19th no-hitter in program history and the third in the last four seasons for the Black and Gold. Mancha's first career no-hitter was of similar fashion, tossing six innings with 13 strikeouts on the road at Memphis on Apr. 23 in an 8-0 win. Mancha is now one of four Knights in program history to pitch more than one no-hitter, joining Allison Kime, Mackenzie Audas and Shelby Turnier as the only to ever do it. Those four names combined have posted 13 of UCF's solo no-hitters, with a 14th being a combined no-no.

Mancha's performance allowed her to climb some career record charts a little higher. The Fresno native jumps into sole possession of ninth place on UCF's all-time complete games list with 22 and is alone in eighth place in career innings pitched with 289.2.

GAME TWO
The Paladins began the second game of the day with the upper hand, with two of the first three batters in the first inning reaching via errors. Furman took advantage of the situation as Riley Ludlam doubled to right field, allowing one run to come across to put them in front 1-0.

UCF answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the frame, as Rowe led off the game with a single, followed by a Searcy walk. After a fly out to right by Cody that send Rowe to third, Rowe and Searcy got in a pickle the following pitch, as Searcy scurried back to first base while Rowe swiped home to even the score at 1-1.

The Knights posted a five spot on the board in their half of the second which was sparked by Searcy singling to left with the bases loaded, scoring a pair to make it 3-1. Cody continued to collect RBI, ripping a triple to the right field wall, scoring another pair. The throw back into the infield went awry, allowing Cody to advance an extra 60 feet and make it a 6-1 lead.

Furman fought back in the top of the fifth, scoring one on a Emily Bartlett double to left center. The hit chased starter Kaitlyn Felton from the ballgame. Kama Woodall entered the circle and saw the first pitch to Ludlam hit to left-center field, plating a pair for the Paladins making it a 6-4 game.  Woodall retired the next three batters in order to keep the Knights up two. Felton finished the day with four innings pitched, striking out four and walking none with three earned runs and seven hits surrendered.

UCF took one of those runs back in their half of the fifth, as Doherty launched one opposite field for her fourth homer of the campaign to make it 7-4. Doherty 17 career home runs, leaping into a tie of seventh in career longballs at UCF. She is currently one behind Cody who is alone in sixth.

More history was made in the fifth inning as Schappacher laid down a gorgeous bunt, leaving Furman with no play for her 200th career hit. Schappacher, who is in her fifth season as a Knight, is now just one of 10 players to wear the Black and Gold to reach the milestone. She is now tied for ninth with Amber Lamb in career hits at UCF. Schappacher can continue her climb on the career hits chart with 24 games left in the regular season, needing 18 more hits to enter into the top five all-time. She currently owns a .334 career batting average, putting her fourth all-time at UCF at the moment and is fifth in on base percentage with a .404 mark.

"I love that she did it with the bunt single," said Ball-Malone. "That was important to her. I think the other thing is that not only is that a tough accomplishment, but the people and teams we face, that's not easy. To say that she's averaging about 50 hits a year and we still have half a season left, wow. It just speaks to who she is and what she's about and how much she's grown to. She's really opened up her game and its so good to have her here in her fifth year, leading this team."

The Knights tacked on one more before the contest had reached its end as Cody notched another RBI on a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Rowe to make it 8-4.

Woodall picked up the save, tossing three innings of two-hit ball while striking out three and walking none.

Cody remains the national leader in RBI and now has 47 on the 2022 season. Depending on how other results shake out around the country this weekend, Cody may move as high as fourth in the nation in RBI per game as she now averages 1.47 RBI per contest.

Just one Knight stands in front of Cody on UCF's single-season RBI list, and that name is repeated three times. UCF Hall of Famer Stephanie Best currently holds the top three single-season RBI totals, gathering 66 in 2003, 60 in 2005 and 48 in 2004.

The Black and Gold have won 14 consecutive games and are now just five wins away from tying the longest winning streak in program history. Cody, Schappacher, Doherty and Griffin are all hitting over .410 during the 14-game stretch, with Cody leading the way batting .500 (21-for-42) and earning an OPS of 1.741. Schappacher follows Cody with .441 clip while Doherty is batting .429 and Griffin .412. As a team, the Knights are batting .365 during the winning streak while holding their opponents to a .234 batting average.

UP NEXT
UCF will wrap up their series with Furman tomorrow at noon.

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