UCF softball has long relied on Shelby Turnier to be a rock in the circle. The best player on the team is often the difference for the Knights as they try to win the American Athletic Conference title for the third straight year.
Turnier took home the American Conference pitcher of the week for the fourth time this season with two stellar performances to help UCF finish off Memphis for a series victory this weekend.
In three appearances, Turnier struck out 17 batters in 16.1 innings pitched, giving up just three earned runs.
She went six innings and struck out seven in Sunday’s finale as the Knights jumped on the Tigers. Turnier gave up just one earned run, but by the time Memphis got that lone run, UCF had gone up 4-0 and then added two more to answer the run. The Knights won 8-1 on Sunday to secure the series win.
It was not an easy week by any stretch of the imagination for the Knights. Turnier started Friday’s match and was cruising until the end of the game.
With a 4-0 lead, the Knights gave up a single run in the sixth and seventh inning to feel a little bit of pressure. Senior Samantha McClocskey hit a two-run home run to kick off the scoring in the 4-2 win.
Turnier came in relief for Manami Calixto to shut the door and give the Knights a chance to score the win. Memphis hit Calixto for five runs in the first 3 2/3 innings before Turnier took over. She fired five strikeouts and gave up one hit in a little more than three innings of work.
Down 5-0, UCF scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Knights strung together hits with RBI knocks from Jasmine Acevedo, Brittany Solis and Jessica Ujvari. The Knights though could not muster that last run to get over the top and give themselves a chance for a sweep, falling 5-4.
Fortunately for UCF, the team closed the door in the finale Sunday giving good energy on offense to boost Turnier’s typically strong pitching performance.
UCF now sits at 8-2 in the conference, sitting behind top-seeded USF. The Knights will play the Bulls in Tampa in a three-game set this weekend. That series will give one of these two power teams control of the conference.
First the Knights will have to take on Florida State in Tallahassee in a makeup of a game that was rained out in Orlando earlier this month.
