Courtesy of Central Florida Athletics
HONOLULU, Hawaii (UCFKnights.com) – The No. 19 UCF softball team captured the Bank of Hawaii Invitational championship with a 4-2 win over No. 16/17 Washington at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Due to time constraints with UCF’s flight back to Orlando, the teams mutually agreed prior to the start of the game to a drop time. The Knights earned the victory after five full innings of play.
“Our team responded well today,” UCF head coach Renee Luers-Gillispie said. “They came out strong from the beginning and played a tough Washington team. Makenzie was solid for us in the circle.”
Senior Mackenzie Audas tossed all five innings, striking out five batters while allowing her first earned runs of the season. She picked up her fourth win of her senior campaign.
Washington recorded the first run of the game, after a hard ball landed in fair territory and rolled away from third base. UCF bounced back to take a lead of its own in the next at-bat. After senior Kahley Novak reached on an error, junior Jessica Ujvari hit a two-run homer to left field to give the Black and Gold a 2-1 advantage.
Ujvari batted in runs three and four with a sharp hit down the left field line, pushing UCF’s lead to 4-1 in the fourth.
Sophomore Brittany Solis drew her second walk of the game to lead off the inning and sophomore Willow Kalinen’s single through the left side. Freshman Courtney Rotton loaded the bases for Ujvari with her first walk of the season. The junior designated player’s second hit of the game scored a pair.
Washington got a run back in the bottom of the inning on an illegal pitch, cutting the Black and Gold lead to 4-2, in the fourth inning. Both teams went scoreless in the fifth inning and reached the drop time in the sixth inning. The NCAA rule reverts the score back to the last completed inning, giving the Knights the 4-2 win.
The Knights put runners on early and often. Sophomore Linnea Goodman opened the game with a hard ball to third base to put a runner on for the Knights. With two outs, Samantha McCloskey drew a walk to put runners on first and second, but a fly out ended the inning before the Black and Gold could make it around the bases.
The Knights earned their third win over a ranked opponent this season and now holds wins over teams in the ACC, Big Ten, SEC and Pac-12.
