ORLANDO – The No. 20 UCF softball team improved to 8-0 in American Athletic Conference play and won its seventh straight contest. Kama Woodall tossed the Knights' second straight one-hitter and tied a career-high in strikeouts in the process.
"The team puts a lot of pressure on themselves," said head coach Cindy Ball-Malone. "We've been playing really well this year and have a lot of accolades and record breakers. I think when that happens, they start to put pressure. I like how they were able to play a little looser today and rally behind Kama. For her to get her season high and tie her career high in strikeouts is something special."
ECU got on the board first as the top of the second began with a Chandley Garner leadoff walk. She later stole second to get into scoring position. With one down, Garner advanced to third on a groundout to third and came around the bag far enough to draw a throw. The throw was errant and trickled to the wall, allowing Garner to score and give the Pirates a 1-0 lead.
The Knights leveled the contest in the home half of the third inning as Micaela Macario drew a four-pitch leadoff walk and later stole second. Johneisha Rowe reached on an error but couldn't move Macario over. With one down in the inning, the nation's RBI leader in Jada Cody knocked one back up the middle for a base hit, allowing Macario to come around to score, making it 1-1. The RBI was the 57th of the season for Cody as she continues to chase Stepanie Best's single season record of 66. She is three RBI away from tying the second-highest single season mark, also held by Best with 60 in 2005.
UCF pulled in front in the following inning as Justene Molina singled to the opposite field, scoring Schappacher to make it 2-1. Schappacher had climbed aboard via an infield single and then used a magnificent slide to steal second, her 60th stolen bag of her career. The mark moves her into a tie of fifth place all-time at UCF with Megan Greenwell (2015-18).
The Knights broke the game open in the bottom of the sixth. With one out and two runners in scoring position, the Pirates walked Cody on four pitches to load the bases for Shannon Doherty. She worked a walk of her own to force in a runner from third to make it 3-1. Ashleigh Griffin was up next and worked a 3-2 count. She smashed the payoff pitch into the right-center field gap, pulling into second with a bases-clearing double to put the Knights up 6-1. It's Griffin's third double over her last three games and leads the team in doubles in conference play with her trio. Griffin is batting .316 during league play and is one of seven Knights above the .300 mark.
Ash is a doubles machine! Three doubles in her last three games! ?? #ChargeOn pic.twitter.com/shR4rCUVDj
— UCF Softball (@UCF_Softball) April 16, 2022
Woodall continued the trend of brilliance in the circle by the Black and Gold's pitchers over the last six games. She earned a new season-best and tied her career-best mark with eight strikeouts against her former team, surrendering just one hit in the process. This is the second straight game that a UCF pitcher has allowed just a single hit, and it's the sixth straight game they've held opponents to three hits or less. An unprecedented run of four straight shutouts by UCF's pitching staff came to an end in the contest, which was the first occurrence in program history. The Black and Gold had tossed five straight shutouts in conference play, another mark that had never happened in the team's 21 seasons.
UP NEXT
The Knights will look to sweep their third straight conference series as they host ECU in game three at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
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