GREENVILLE, N.C. – Fast starts were the M.O. of the UCF softball team throughout its weekend three-game set against ECU, and another one Sunday afternoon set the tone for a dominant 9-2 victory over the Pirates that clinched a three-game sweep in its first road series of the season at Max R. Joyner Family Stadium.
The Knights (23-18, 4-2 AAC) offense was firing on all cylinders throughout the series, finding the scoreboard in the top of the first inning in all three contests and outscoring the Pirates (22-15, 0-6 AAC) by an aggregate 21-2 throughout the weekend.
After a Chloe Evans sacrifice fly and an Aubrey Evans RBI single provided the Knights' respective initial tallies in the first two games, UCF plated two more in the top of the first inning Sunday. Chloe Evans cashed in with an RBI single and Jasmine Williams followed with a sacrifice fly to again stake UCF's starting pitcher to a lead before throwing a single pitch.
The former's run-scoring single marked her fourth base hit in her last two games following her three-hit display in UCF's 4-0 Saturday win, and the junior has now driven in a run in two of her last three games after fighting doing so just once in her previous 11 games entering the weekend set.
Starter Sarah Willis ran with the early momentum, spinning perfect first and second innings to keep her team out of the field and at the plate. The Knights responded well to her efforts with a five-run third inning that featured Williams' second sacrifice fly of the contest, a two-run pinch-hit double by utility player Savannah Adams and a two-run single by Kennedy Searcy.
Adams' two-bagger marked her third of the season, setting a season high for the sophomore on the same field on which she clubbed her game-winning pinch-hit two-run homer in the eighth inning of the American Athletic Conference tournament semifinals against Houston a year ago.
Williams' two sacrifice flies gave the redshirt-senior her second multi-RBI game in her last five contests, and the shortstop has now collected six RBI while going a combined 4-for-14 in that span.
Searcy also recorded her second three-hit game of the season in the winning effort and has hit safely in five of her last seven games overall, going 8-for-21 since the Knights' 3-1 win over the No. 22 Wichita State Shockers March 24.
The Pirates mounted an offensive rally of their own in response to UCF's five-run frame, plating a pair against Willis in the home half of the third and threatening for more with two runners in scoring position with one out.
Head coach Cindy Ball-Malone turned to right-hander Grace Jewell, less than 24 hours removed from tossing a seven-inning complete-game shutout Saturday evening, in relief, and the Chesapeake, Virginia, native quickly calmed the storm.
Jewell retired the first two ECU hitters she faced en route to tossing 4.2 scoreless innings in relief, yielding just one hit and one walk while fanning a trio of Pirates. In the process, she lowered her team-best season ERA to 2.26 (86.2 IP, 28 ER), having totaled 18 innings with just one run allowed and 12 strikeouts in her last three appearances (two starts) during the last week.
The Knights would tack on two more in the top of the sixth inning, courtesy of a Shannon Doherty sacrifice fly that scored pinch-runner Olivia Elliott, and behind her Chloe Evans on an ECU error. Doherty's sacrifice fly also provided the 113th RBI of her collegiate career, bringing her to within five RBI of tying Hillary Barrow (118 RBI) for seventh on the UCF all-time list.
UP NEXT
The Knights will have a quick turnaround before the finale of their four-game road trip, slated for Wednesday evening against FGCU in Fort Myers, Florida. First pitch from the FGCU Softball Complex is slated for 5 p.m.
