Softball Splits Final Day at UCF Knights Classic

Sunday, February 16

Orlando, Fla.

11:30 AM

Florida Atlantic

3-5

Iowa State

5-5

Florida Atlantic

Iowa State

Photo by: Jeff Romance

2/16/2020 5:04:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

ORLANDO, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University softball team (3-6) went 1-1 on the last day of the annual UCF Knights Classic. FAU looked to change their fate from the day before, and did just that by defeating Iowa State, 6-3 in the first game. The Owls were unable to keep the momentum going into the second matchup, falling to host UCF, 10-0 in five innings.

How It Was Decided

Game 1 vs. Iowa State:
In the bottom of the third inning, Iowa State put a run across after a ground out that followed an FAU error. It was quiet until the bottom of the fifth when a Cyclone stole home to make it a 2-0 game for a short time. With two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, Jolie Duffner singled up the middle to await the fate of Fayth Davis. The redshirt junior watched the first pitch go by for a ball, and patiently waited for the second pitch that was sent flying over the left center fence for her first home run of the season. Davis' two-run home run tied the ball game at 2-2 and sent the game into extras.

With the game going into the eighth inning, Sami Williams started at second due to the softball international tie breaker rule. Jennings led off the eighth inning at the plate with a bunt that moved Williams to third and kept her safe at first base. Jennings moved to second on a stolen base, and later scored for the Owls from an RBI single from Duffner to make it 3-2 in the Owls' favor. The Owls brought in another run off a Cyclone wild pitch to make it 4-2 with runners on the corners. With the bases loaded, Rachel Tarpley stepped into a pinch hit and after eight pitches she fouled off, the freshman delivered an RBI single to make it 5-2 with the bases still loaded and two outs. Sara Berthiaume then singled earning an RBI to make it 6-2. The Owls defense left it all on field in the bottom of the eighth allowing just one run to close out the game, 6-3. Lynn Gardner pitched the complete game to pick up her second win of the weekend.

Game 2 vs. UCF:
After the Owls went three up and three down to start the first inning, Kaitlyn Burke doubled to left center field to get the first hit of the game for FAU. Myah Murray singled up the middle to advance the runner, but both were left stranded on the corners. The Knights answered back with a 2RBI single to make it a 2-0 game at the end of the second. UCF went on a run in the bottom of the third inning to score seven insurance runs to make it 9-0. The Knights added an extra run in the bottom of the fourth to increase their lead, 10-0. Several pinch hitters stepped to the plate to try to get the Owls out of a jam, but it was too little too late, as FAU fell 10-0 in five innings to the Knights.

Notables

Game 1:

Davis came up with her first home run of the season, while going 1-4 with two RBI
Duffner ended the game 2-4 with an RBI and two runs scored
Berthiaume went 1-3 with an RBI followed by Tarpley with an RBI going 1-1
Gardner pitched her first career eight inning game to earn the win and move to 2-1 with four strikeouts

Game 2:

Burke and Murray ended the second game going 1-1
Kara Lokeinsky pitched 2.0 innings with one earned run charged against her

With Davis

"On deck, I was timing the pitcher up and looking at Jolie [Duffner] to see what she was getting," said Davis on her first home run of the season. "Right when Jolie got on base, I knew could hit her in and that was my only goal to hit deep enough to hit her in from first and get her in. I also wanted to help out Lynn [Gardner] who pitched a great game and I just knew I had to do something to help her out."

Up Next

The Owls will be back home for the FAU Strikeout Cancer Tournament from Feb. 21-22. For tickets, visit the Ticketmaster page or call 1-866-FAU-OWLS.

Follow the Owls

For live updates during all of the Owls' games and for other FAU softball news, follow along on Twitter (@fauowlssoftball), Instagram (@Owls_softball) and Facebook.