UCF’s final weekend of the regular season does not have much at stake outside of celebrating a stellar senior class and working for better NCAA Softball Tournament positioning. The American Athletic Conference was already decided — really on a snowy weekend in Storrs, Conn. The team just has to get itself playing well heading to the American Athletic Conference Softball Tournament next week in Tulsa.
Stringing together hits has been the formula all season, relying heavily on Shelby Turnier’s stellar work in the circle. Even as this season closes, there may still be times when the pieces seem to fit, but the picture still looks a bit muddy.
The Knights tallied seven hits against the East Carolina Pirates on Friday at the UCF Softball Complex but could only manage one run.
And with the game tied in the top of the seventh inning, the pitching faltered just enough to open the door for East Carolina.
A leadoff double helped set up the go-ahead run, one of four hits pitcher Jamie Ujvari gave up in the game, and deliver East Carolina 2-1 win Friday in the first game of a three-game series. The series continues Saturday at UCF Softball Complex at 6 p.m.
“I felt like we were in it,” head coach Renee Luers-Gillispie told UCFKnights.com. “ECU just came to play. They had the key hits when they needed it. We were hitting well; we were hitting hard. We just were hitting at people, and it didn’t fall where we needed it to fall.”
That is often how things go. And certainly UCF is no stranger to trying to string together hits. That is a big part of the team’s offense, using a balanced lineup to get around the bases and advance runners.
That is something UCF was not able to do despite the amount of hits the team accumulated this game.
Linnea Goodman and Cassady Brewer each went 2 for 4 for the game. Brewer scored the Knights’ only run when she hit a double in the sixth inning and came home on Samantha McCloskey’s double a few at bats later.
Ujvari got the start in the circle for the Knights with two runs and four hits in 6 1/3 innings pitched. Turnier closed the game after Ujvari gave up the go-ahead run. It was a good pitching effort, certainly enough to win. The Knights could not string together the right combination of hits to secure the win.
