Tulsa Falls in Series Finale to UCF

Sunday, April 16

Collins Family Softball Complex

11:30 AM

Tulsa

17-23, 0

UCF

27-19, 0

UCF

Tulsa

Photo by: Campbell Rogerson

Tulsa Falls in Series Finale to UCF

4/16/2023 3:28:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

Box Score (PDF) | Season Stats

TULSA, Okla. – The Golden Hurricane softball team fell behind early and never could recover in a 13-1 five inning loss to UCF in the rubber match of the series at the Collins Family Softball Complex on Sunday afternoon.

Tulsa dropped the series against the Knights and fell to 17-23, 3-6 in The American. UCF picked up its second series win as the Knights improved to 27-19 and 6-3 in The American.

Maura Moore (10-10) had the start and took the loss. She went two and a third innings and allowed five runs on six hits with a strikeout. Kylee Nash tossed 1.1 innings and allowed five runs. Riley Grant allowed three runs in two-thirds of an inning and Kaiya Luneckas also pitched two-thirds of a frame.

For the Knights, it was Kaitlyn Felton who took the win after entering the circle in the second inning. She tossed 3.2 innings and allowed three hits while striking out three and shutting out the Hurricane. Sarah Willis had the start, walking three and allowing one hit and one run before exiting.

At the plate, Emma Vickrey drove in Tulsa's lone run on a fielder's choice in the bottom of the second. Imani Edwards went 1-for-1 and drew a walk, as did Abby Jones. Kailyn Bearpaw and Rylee Keith both singled as well.

UCF's Shannon Doherty did the damage for the Knights. The first baseman finished 3-for-3 with a pair of home runs, six RBI, a walk and three runs scored. Second baseman Micaela Macario also had a nice day at the plate, driving in four with a three-run home run and a sacrifice fly.

HOW IT HAPPENED

For the first time this weekend, it was the Knights who opened the scoring. A leadoff single and stolen base setup an RBI double to take a 1-0 lead. Later in the inning, Doherty lifted a two-run homer to left center to put the Knights up 3-0.

The Hurricane put together its best inning in the bottom of the second. A one out single from Rylee Keith and consecutive walks loaded the bags with one out. Vickrey drove in the lone run of the game with a fielder's choice to short, beating out the double play at first and scoring Gracie Jarvis, who pinch ran for Keith. Haley Morgan grounded out, leaving the bases loaded with Tulsa trailing 3-1.

The Knights would score multiple runs in each of the final three innings to put the game away. A bases loaded single in the third made it 4-1 before a sacrifice fly extended the lead to 5-1.

In the fourth, the Knights did all their damage with two away. A double to left and a single brought in the sixth run of the game. Another single scored a run and then a three-run homer blew the game open as UCF took a 10-1 lead.

UCF would tack on three more in its final plate appearance. The first two batters walked, which brought up Doherty. She cleared the bag with her second home run of the game, placing the ball over the fence in left. The three-run shot gave her six RBI for the game and made the score 13-1, which would hold as the final.

GAME NOTES

» Tulsa was outhit 12-4 in the finale ... every game of the series had 16 combined hits.
» TU has dropped two conference series in a row after starting The American play with a 2-1 series win over Memphis.
» Of the five combined strikeouts in the game, four of them caught the batter looking.
» UCF hit .583 (7-for-12) with two outs and .545 (6-for-11) with runners in scoring position.
» The Hurricane were 1-for-8 with runners on-base and 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position.

Next up for the Golden Hurricane is one last trip to Houston as co-members of The American Athletic Conference. The Cougars and Golden Hurricane will meet for a three-game series starting on Friday at 6 in the evening. Saturday will have a first pitch time of 2 p.m. and Sunday will start at noon. All games over the weekend will air on ESPN+.