WICHITA, Kan. – The No. 19 UCF softball team dropped game one of their series at Wichita State by a score of 11-4 on Friday night.
The Knights threatened early putting two in scoring position with one away but couldn't push a run across. UCF collected the only two hits of the contest through the first two frames.
UCF broke onto the scoreboard in a big way in the top of the third inning. Micaela Macario drew a walk to leadoff the frame, followed by an Allyse Volpe single to put two on. Kennedy Searcy laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners into scoring position. Jada Cody came up to bat next and plated those two runners, smashing a single through the left side to put the Knights up 2-0. The RBI were numbers 63 and 64 of the season for Cody, continuing to inch closer to Stephanie Best's record of 66 set in 2003.
With two down in the third, Cody advanced to second on a wild pitch. Ashleigh Griffin kept the inning going with a single up the middle, wheeling Cody around third and into score. The very next pitch, Denali Schappacher laced the pitch into the left-center field gap. Maddie Bejarano, who came on to pinch run for Griffin, came all the way around to score to make it 4-0 as Schappacher pulled into third with her fourth triple of the season and ninth of her career. In total, the Black and Gold sent eight batters to the plate in their half of the third inning.
Things were quiet until the bottom of the fifth inning as Wichita State loaded the bases with one out. Gianna Mancha was lifted from the circle in favor of Kama Woodall. The first batter she faced grounded one back to her, as Woodall shuffled one to the plate for the force out. With two out, Neleigh Herring knotted up the game with one swing, hitting a grand slam to left.
The Shockers sent 12 hitters to the plate in the sixth inning, which began with a walk and a single, followed by an error to load the bases. The next batter was Sydney Mckinney, who drew a walk to give Wichita State a 5-4 lead. The nation's leader in RBI, Addison Barnard, was up next and plated two more for the Shockers, putting them in front 7-4. Angelina DeVoe was called into the circle to relieve Woodall. She was able to collect the first out of the inning on a sacrifice bunt. The next batter was Zoe Jones, who singled to drive in another run, making it 8-4. The Knights were able to get another out in the inning with a play at the plate. Following the fielder's choice, DeVoe hit the next batter and was lifted in favor of Grace Jewell. The first batter she faced doubled off the wall, driving in three to push the score to 11-4.
The Knights walked eight batters in the ballgame, one shy of tying a season high, which was set in the 12-11 shootout against Florida back on Feb. 27. The game against the Gators was also the last time that the Knights surrendered seven runs in a single inning. UCF made three errors in the ballgame, just the seventh time this season that they've made three or more errors in a game. The Knights are 3-4 in those contests, but 0-2 in conference when that occurs.
UP NEXT
The Black and Gold will play game two of their series against Wichita State at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday. The Knights need to win both remaining games in the series to clinch the conference title outright and secure the number one seed in the tournament.
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