Courtesy of South Carolina Athletics
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – No. 13/14 UCF (49-7) pitchers tossed six shutout innings, and three unearned runs helped the Knights claim a 4-1 victory over South Carolina in the opening game of the Tallahassee Regional at the Seminole Softball Complex at JoAnne Graf Field.
The Knights loaded the bases in the fourth on two hit-by-pitches and a walk, the last two reaching with two outs. Maddy Schroeder poked one to shortstop and beat the throw to break the scoreless tie, and a Gamecock throwing error on the next batter allowed two more to come home, giving UCF the 3-0 lead. The lead grew to 4-0 in the fifth on Jessica Ujvari’s RBI single to left.
South Carolina (37-21) scored on a pair of doubles by junior Alaynie Page and sophomore Victoria Williams in the seventh, but it was too late.
Much like the February meeting, the Gamecocks had ample opportunities to score but couldn’t come through. Twice, South Carolina left the bases loaded. In the second, three straight walks brought up the top of the Gamecocks’ order with one down, but a grounder and a foul out ended that threat. An inning later, the bases were loaded with two outs, but UCF starter Mackenzie Audas got her third strikeout to finish the inning. South Carolina drew five walks in the first three innings against Audas but could not score.
Turnier (25-6) picked up the win in relief, tossing three shutout innings before allowing the one earned run in the seventh. Gamecock sophomore Nickie Blue (20-8) took the loss, allowing three runs, one earned, on two hits, two walks and two hit batters in four innings of work. She struck out three.
Game Changer:
The infield single in the third broke the ice for UCF, but the error that followed provided the winning margin.
Key Stat:
South Carolina left 10 runners on base in the setback.
