ORLANDO, Fla. - In the final pair of non-conference games of the season, as well as the final midweek games, North Florida softball (23-12) fell to UCF (18-15) in both matchups on Tuesday evening.
The Ospreys held a 3-2 lead in the first game, but UCF responded immediately with seven runs to take the first game. UNF was overwhelmed by the Knights' offense in the second game as well, with UCF having three innings across both games scoring four or more runs.
Ashley Connor made her second start of the season in the circle during the first game, while
Cameron Ponich got her first collegiate start in game two.
Kelsey Vogel also made her third start of the year, along with her first one in the outfield.
GAME 1 | UCF 11, UNF 4
Ospreys fought back and forth with UCF and took the lead in the third with a
Kirsten Caravaca sac-fly, but the Knights' offense sparked with seven runs in the third to take the first game, 11-4.
Pitchers of Record
Win: Sarah Willis (5-5)
Loss: Ashley Connor (1-1)
Line Scores
UNF | 4 R, 7 H, 1 E, 12 LOB
UCF | 11 R, 13 H, 0 E, 4 LOB
Statistical Leaders
UNF
Hadlee Reichert | 2-3, RBI
Ashley Kirkbride | 2-3, R
Shannon Glover | 1-2, RBI
Kirsten Caravaca | 1-3, RBI, R
Kylah Berry | 4.0 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 83 pitches
UCF
Jada Cody | 2-3, 2 RBI, 2 R, two-run HR
Chloe Evans | 2-4, 2 RBI, R
Samantha Rey | 2-2, 2 RBI, R
Ashleigh Griffin | 2-4, 2 RBI
Sarah Willis | 5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 94 pitches
GAME 2 | UCF 9, UNF 0 (5 Inn.)
UNF found themselves in another early deficit and couldn't bounce back, as they offense was kept in check in the shutout loss in the back-half of the doubleheader to UCF.
Pitchers of Record
Win: Katelyn Cochran (1-0)
Loss: Cameron Ponich (0-1)
Line Scores
UNF | 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 3 LOB
UCF | 9 R, 8 H, 0 E, 5 LOB
Statistical Leaders
UNF
Allison Benning | 1-2
Cameron Ponich | 4.0 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 4 BB, 88 pitches
UCF
Sona Halajian | 1-1, 4 RBI, R, grand slam HR
Katelyn Cochran | 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 76 pitches
UP NEXT
The Ospreys return from its road trip to host its second conference series of the season against Kennesaw State from Apr. 6-7 at UNF Softball Complex.