Coming off a 7-2 win against Iona on Tuesday night, UCF Softball Head Coach Renee Luers-Gillispie prepares her team to take on the Memphis Tigers this Saturday at the UCF Softball Complex.
For the Knights, the Tigers will be traveling to Orlando to open the inaugural season of the American Athletic Conference as they play a doubleheader at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m ET. They play a single game on Sunday. Fans are encouraged to wear their Star Wars themed costumes, as it will be Jedi Knights day on Tuesday at the UCF Softball Complex.
Despite the Knights’ 2-1 loss to Purdue, UCF charged on to pocket the 7-2 victory against Iona as Junior Mackenzie Audas and Sophomore Mackenzie Huhn made history for the first time ever with a combined no-hitter for UCF’s Softball program. The Knights sported a home run from Sophomore Brittany Gasser, along with nine stolen bases.
Looking forward, Coach Luers-Gillispie seeks a win in Saturday’s doubleheader against the Tigers. While this team is heating up, in no way are the Knights intending on settling for anything less than a sweep of Memphis.
Each team has plenty of offensive and defensive talent. Both Memphis and UCF are packed with top players ready to show off their talent this coming Saturday. For the Knights, they will be coming into Saturday’s game with a 19-9 season record. While UCF holds an 18-4 advantage in wins at home, the Knights have also traveled and won on the road against No. 22 Notre Dame, Yale, and Princeton.
“We’re ready to show off our talent, passion, and drive for the game,” says Head Coach Renee Luers-Gillispie and that’s exactly what they plan on bringing to the field in Saturday’s showdown. “We have a young team, but we in no way intend on looking naïve,” said Luers-Gillispie as she inspires her players to bring on the heat in Saturday’s doubleheader.
While Sophomore Shelby Turnier is 11-1 in the circle so far this season, she does not allow hits without a fight. She won the American Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week award in early March, and Turnier has shown the desire to keeping winning and shutting the batters out while in the circle.
While the Knights keep killin’ it in the circle, they also bring their big bats to the box. Jessica Ujvari has parked two home runs to add to her batting record as she is showing off a season .343 batting average. And it doesn’t stop there. Brittany Solis leads the Knights with 11 RBI’s and 13 hits so far this season. Linnea Goodman, coming off a knee injury, still manages to put up a brick wall in letting nothing by her in left field.
“All the young players on the team have really stepped up, practice everything they have and we plan on bringing that drive and intensity to the AAC opener against Memphis,” Says Luers-Gillispie. “There is always a tough team to play, so we’ll have to stay focused and ready if we want the win.”
The AAC opening doubleheader this Saturday will be one for the books as the Knights try to start conference play on top.
