The UCF women’s softball team, ranked No. 15 in this week’s polls, narrowly fell to No. 1 Florida in a 2-1 loss on Wednesday, Feb. 25 in Gainesville, Fla.
Coming off of an undefeated weekend and a Bank of Hawaii Championship win, the Knights (12-1) faced off against the No. 1 ranked women’s softball team in the nation when they took on the Gators (16-0). Junior Kalyn Cenal hit a solo homerun to score the Knights’ only run of the game.
Florida scored its first run of the game in the bottom of the third, when two illegal pitches by junior Shelby Turnier allowed the runner to advance from second to home. A hard hit to center in the bottom of the fourth brought in their second run.
Both Turnier and Gator freshman Aleshia Ocasio, who started on the mound, had eight strikeouts. Both teams had three hits each in this inner-state matchup.
UCF made history for the second time in two weeks when it was ranked No. 15 in the ESPN Top 25 poll, the highest ranking in program history. Last week, the Knights became the first UCF softball team to be ranked nationally in the Top 25 poll when they debuted at No. 19.
The Knights will the Wilson/DiMarini Tournament this weekend, the second of four pre-season home tournaments. UCF faces off against Princeton (1-4) on Friday, February 27 at 4:00 p.m.
