Wednesday, February 14
Orlando, FL
6:00 PM ET
Liberty University
1-5
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7
UCF
5-1
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5
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7
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H
E
Liberty
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1
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8
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UCF
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7
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7th-Inning Rally Falls Just Short, UCF Holds Off Liberty 7-5
2/14/2024 9:52:00 PM | Softball
ORLANDO, Fla. - Liberty narrowed a 7-2 seventh-inning deficit to 7-5 and brought the tying run to the plate before the host UCF Knights held on for the 7-5 victory, Wednesday at UCF Softball Complex.
UCF improves to 5-1 on the season with the win, while Liberty (1-5) sustains its fifth straight setback.
Due to threatening weather in the Leesburg, Fla., area, Liberty's schedule at THE Spring Games has been altered. The Lady Flames will now start the tournament tomorrow with a single game against Coastal Carolina at 4:30 p.m. at Sleepy Hollow Softball Complex.
Scoring Summary
UCF – 1st INNING – Kotzelnic scores on a wild pitch, 1-0
UCF – 1st INNING – Aubrey Evans scores on a wild pitch, 2-0
UCF – 1st INNING – Doherty singles, Searcy and Chloe Evans score, 4-0
Liberty – 3rd INNING – Roupe doubles, Wilson scores, 4-1
Liberty – 4th INNING – Craine homers to left, 4-2
UCF – 5th INNING – Kotzelnic grounds out, Cody scores, 5-2
UCF – 5th INNING – Chloe Evans doubles, Delhoyo scores, 6-2
UCF – 5th INNING – Doherty reaches on error, Chloe Evans scores, 7-2
Liberty – 7th INNING – Fortner triples to center, Roupe and Wilson score, 7-4
Liberty – 7th INNING – Kersten flies out to center, sac fly, Heidorn scores, 7-5
Turning Point
UCF improves to 5-1 on the season with the win, while Liberty (1-5) sustains its fifth straight setback.
Due to threatening weather in the Leesburg, Fla., area, Liberty's schedule at THE Spring Games has been altered. The Lady Flames will now start the tournament tomorrow with a single game against Coastal Carolina at 4:30 p.m. at Sleepy Hollow Softball Complex.
Scoring Summary
UCF – 1st INNING – Kotzelnic scores on a wild pitch, 1-0
UCF – 1st INNING – Aubrey Evans scores on a wild pitch, 2-0
UCF – 1st INNING – Doherty singles, Searcy and Chloe Evans score, 4-0
Liberty – 3rd INNING – Roupe doubles, Wilson scores, 4-1
Liberty – 4th INNING – Craine homers to left, 4-2
UCF – 5th INNING – Kotzelnic grounds out, Cody scores, 5-2
UCF – 5th INNING – Chloe Evans doubles, Delhoyo scores, 6-2
UCF – 5th INNING – Doherty reaches on error, Chloe Evans scores, 7-2
Liberty – 7th INNING – Fortner triples to center, Roupe and Wilson score, 7-4
Liberty – 7th INNING – Kersten flies out to center, sac fly, Heidorn scores, 7-5
Turning Point
- UCF added three insurance runs in the fifth inning, on an RBI groundout, an RBI double from Chloe Evans, and one additional run which scored on an error for a 7-2 Knights lead.
- Savannah Jessee led off Liberty's attempted rally with a pinch-hit single in the top of the seventh. After a fielder's choice, Rachel Roupe was hit by a pitch. Megan Fortner's two-run triple made it 7-4, chasing Angelina DeVoe from the circle. Sierra Kersten's sac fly narrowed the gap to 7-5. Hailey Deter then laced a double, bringing the tying run to the plate. Sarah Willis came on, striking out Rachel Craine to seal the save.
- Liberty outhit UCF 8-7 for the game, while the Lady Flames committed two errors. The guests left seven on base, while the Knights stranded six.
- Kaitlyn Felton (2-0) earned the win, allowing two runs on four hits, walking three and striking out two in four innings pitched. DeVoe gave up three runs on three hits in 2 1/3 innings pitched, and Willis retired the only batter she faced to nail down the save.
- Liberty's Katie Love (0-2) drew the loss, allowing three runs on one hit, walking two and issuing two wild pitches. Paige Bachman yielded four runs, two earned, on four hits, striking out three in four innings of work. Kaylan Yoder struck out four in 1 2/3 innings, walking one and giving up one hit.
- Shannon Doherty batted 1-for-3 with two RBI, while Jada Cody went 2-for-4 with a double, a triple and one run scored.
- Liberty's Megan Fortner went 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBI, while Hailey Deter batted 2-for-3 with a double. Mary Claire Wilson (1-for-3) scored twice, while Rachel Roupe went 1-for-2 with a double, one RBI and one run scored. Rachel Craine went 1-for-4 with her first homer of the season.
- UCF is now 7-0 all-time against Liberty in softball, with six out of the seven meetings happening at UCF Softball Complex.
- Roupe, who extended her hitting streak to nine games, became the 14th player in program history with 100 or more career RBI.
- Deter recorded her first two career hits tonight.
- Craine's homer was the junior's first home run since April 29, 2023 against Austin Peay.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kaitlyn Felton (2-0)
L: Love, Katie (0-2)
S: Sarah Willis (1)
Batting:
2B: Roupe, Rachel 1 ; Deter, Hailey 1
3B: Fortner, Megan 1
HR: Craine, Rachel 1
RBI: Roupe, Rachel 1 ; Fortner, Megan 2 ; Kersten, Sierra 1 ; Craine, Rachel 1
SF: Kersten, Sierra 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wilson, Mary Claire 2 ; Roupe, Rachel 1 ; Heidorn, Lilly 1 ; Craine, Rachel 1
HBP: Roupe, Rachel 1
Batting:
2B: Jada Cody 1 ; Chloe Evans 1 ; Sona Halajian 1
3B: Jada Cody 1
RBI: Stormy Kotzelnick 1 ; Chloe Evans 1 ; Shannon Doherty 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Jada Cody 1 ; Stormy Kotzelnick 1 ; Aubrey Evans 1 ; Samantha Delhoyo 1 ; Chloe Evans 2 ; Kennedy Searcy 1
SB: Katie Burge 1 ; Aubrey Evans 1 ; Chloe Evans 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
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INF
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P/OF
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P
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