ORLANDO – The No. 20 UCF softball team improved to 4-0 in conference play and 32-10 overall with a 4-0 win over Memphis behind another complete game shutout from Gianna Mancha.
"The first inning, we threw a few more pitches than I would have liked to," said head coach Cindy Ball-Malone. "But then she kept the pitch count down. I'm playing numbers with her, I'd like to keep her innings and pitch count down so that she is freshest and at her best towards the end of the year. She did what she does best; wiggled the ball, used her defense and got some strikeouts to keep the momentum on our side. When they get in scoring position I feel confident because she is strong in throwing any pitch that she wants to throw."
Denali Schappacher led off the bottom of the second inning with a hard single to center and stole second a few pitches later. The hit was the 208th of Schappacher's career, moving her into sole possession of seventh all-time at UCF while the stolen base moved her into a tie of sixth all-time in stolen bases with 58. Justene Molina sent her around to score on a base hit to center of her own to give the Knights a 1-0 lead.
The Black and Gold added another run in their half of the fourth inning. Maddie Bejarano led off the frame with a single up the middle but was erased on a fielder's choice as Molina climbed aboard. Molina later stole second and advanced to third on a bunt single by Johneisha Rowe. Kennedy Searcy was next up and chopped one just to the right of the pitcher, who got a glove on it but couldn't make a play, allowing Molina to scamper home.
UCF tacked on a pair of runs in their final at-bats of the night as Rowe knocked in Molina, who scored half of the Knights' runs in the contest, to make it 3-0. A Searcy walk following the Rowe RBI single to left-center chased Memphis start Mikayla Hoschak in favor of Hallie Siems. Jada Cody took the first Siems pitch right back up the box, allowing Rowe to score for Cody's 54th RBI of the campaign and make it a 4-0 game.
Cody's 54th RBI is the 100th of her career. Just a sophomore, Cody is the ninth player in UCF history to reach the century mark in RBI. She still leads the nation in RBI and is now six away from a tie of second place on UCF's single-season RBI list and a dozen away from a tie of the record. Stephanie Best (2002-05) holds the top two spots and held the top three until Cody passed up the 48 she gathered in 2004.
Mancha was brilliant again in the circle and is now up to 11 straight scoreless innings after tossing her 10th complete game and fifth solo shutout of the season. She fanned six batters and is now up to 318 in her career as a Knight, just two shy of a tie of seventh with Lindsay Enders (2004-05) on UCF's all-time list. Mancha's ERA and batting average are now identical, as she has posted an impressive 1.74 ERA while holding batters to a .174 average against her.
UP NEXT
The Knights will face Memphis in game two of the series at 2 p.m. on Saturday. UCF will be rocking their Citronaut uniforms for Saturday's contest.
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