Searcy's Grand Slam Lifts #19 UCF Past Houston in ExtrasSearcy's Grand Slam Lifts #19 UCF Past Houston in Extras

Searcy's Grand Slam Lifts #19 UCF Past Houston in Extras

HOUSTON – The No. 19 UCF softball team won its ninth straight game and improved to 10-0 in American Athletic Conference play with a 4-1, eight inning victory over Houston on Friday night.

"I thought we started off great, having quality at bats and getting runners on, we just didn't get the clutch hits when we needed it," said head coach Cindy Ball-Malone. "Things kinda quieted down a little bit in the middle of the game. Gianna threw a heck of a game and kept us in it."

It was a pitcher's duel from the start. Just four hits were compiled through the first seven innings, three for UCF and one for Houston.

Johneisha Rowe changed the course of the ballgame with a highlight reel play in centerfield, leaping high at the wall to rob a three-run homer from Britaney Shaw to end the second inning.

Gianna Mancha continued her brilliance, retiring nine straight Cougars at one point. Through seven frames, she allowed just one hit and two walks while striking out five.

The eighth inning unleashed all the offense pent up over the course of the contest. Justene Molina cracked one to the shortstop, reaching on an infield single. Micaela Macario followed up with a single of her own up the middle, followed by an Allyse Volpe walk to load the bases. Kennedy Searcy promptly unloaded them, crushing the first pitch she saw way beyond the right field fence to put the Knights up 4-0. The Black and Gold sent nine total batters to the plate in the eighth but couldn't tally any more to the four-run edge.

Searcy's blast snapped the Knights' seven-game homerless streak. UCF's longest drought of the season prior to the most recent run had been four games. It's the second grand slam this season for the Black and Gold; Grace Jewell owns the other back on Feb. 23 in an 11-0 win at FIU.

Houston scored their only run of the contest on a solo home run by Shaw in the home half of the eighth, as she earned one after being robbed by Rowe earlier. Mancha finished the evening unscathed after that with a total of six strikeouts and three hits allowed, extending UCF's streak of allowing three or less hits to eight straight contests.

"The staff has been working hard and its been paying off; their execution is phenomenal," said Ball-Malone. "What I love the most is that they had such a great weekend last weekend and we really got after it in the bullpen this week. They're not satisfied, they're not settling and they want to continue to get better."

It wasn't the first time that Mancha has gone eight innings as she tied a career high in innings pitched. The last time she tossed eight innings in a single game was in her freshman year back on Apr. 13, 2018 as a member of Boise State against UNLV in a 1-0 loss. Before that, she was victorious at San Diego State while also tallying two at-bats and getting hit by a pitch in a 3-1 ballgame on Mar. 30 in the same year.

Mancha is now 17-3 this season with a fantastic 1.58 ERA. Currently, her ERA would put her in 9th on UCF's single-season ERA list. Her six strikeouts helped her achieve a career high in strikeouts, punching out 143 batters so far. She needs just 10.1 more innings of work to pass her career mark in that department. Mancha is now alone in eighth place in career complete games at UCF, totaling 29.

In conference play, Mancha is now 6-0 with a miniscule 0.67 ERA and five complete games in six starts. Batters are hitting just .088 against her.

The Knights improve to 3-0 in extra innings this season, previously beating No. 12 Georgia 7-6 in eight innings on opening night and topping No. 5 Virginia Tech 5-4 in 11 innings. UCF has totaled 10 runs in extra innings this season, including nine in the eighth inning. They've allowed just one run in extras this season, with that one occurring on Friday.

UCF's 10-0 start in conference play has tied their best start to conference play in program history, matching the 2004 team's perfect start through 10 games in the Atlantic Sun.

UP NEXT
The Knights and Cougars will meet for game two of the three-game series at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday.

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