ORLANDO – After a phenomenal weekend against South Florida, UCF softball's Gianna Mancha has been named the American Athletic Conference's Pitcher of the Week. It is the second straight week that she has won the honor.
"Gianna was doing what Gianna does this weekend, and the team was right behind her," said head coach Cindy Ball-Malone. "This weekend was a great matchup between two great teams with two great pitchers. It speaks highly to our conference and the athletes in it. I'm proud of Gianna to see the hard work paying off!"
Mancha performed at an elite level in her two appearances over the weekend, pitching two-complete games, tossing a total of 14 innings while allowing just three hits and striking out 19. She held the Bulls to a miniscule .065 batting average over that span and has lowered her season ERA to 1.85.
Mancha's first performance started off tough, surrendering two runs across the first two innings. Friday's contests started with a leadoff walk to South Florida's Alexis Johns, who leads the nation in steals. She caused problems on the basepaths and eventually came around to score on a ground ball without a hit being surrendered. The next inning saw Bulls' pitcher Georgina Corrick hit a solo shot to make it 2-0. Mancha only got better after that retiring 13 batters in a row at one point and finishing the contest with just two hits allowed and nine strikeouts.
Mancha was even more locked in on Sunday, no hitting the Bulls one time through the order. The lone hit of the afternoon was on an awkward bunt single that allowed Johns to climb aboard. Other than that, Mancha was lights out, punching out 10 South Florida hitters before it was all said and done.
It was a pitcher's duel throughout, as the lone run scored for six innings was thanks to a Kennedy Searcy solo shot in the first inning. Searcy's efforts earned her a spot on the weekly honor roll, as she went 4-for-7 with two home runs off of South Florida's Corrick. Searcy is up to five homers this year, tied for second on the team.
The Knights finished Sunday's game with another homer, as Jada Cody added insurance in the top of the sixth on a two-run homer, driving in Searcy for her third run of the weekend.
Mancha is now a two-time reigning American Pitcher of the Week after also earning the honor last week for throwing a no-hitter against Furman. Cody was also named Player of the Week that week, the first time this season that the Knights swept the honor.
UP NEXT
The Knights will visit No. 6 Florida in a midweek matchup on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in Gainesville, Fla. The two sides met earlier in the season with the Gators coming away with a 12-11 victory.
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