Houston softball swept by UCF as losing streak reaches season-high 11 games

Houston softball’s losing streak has officially reached 11 games after getting swept by the UCF Knights at Cougar Softball Stadium.

The Knights had a weekend to look back on, achieving a perfect game, tying the program record for home runs in a game and then breaking that record in the series finale.

To put in perspective how the series went, UCF had more home runs (19) than innings played for the whole series (17).  

UCF outscored Houston 49-9, while outhitting it 39-12 across the three games.

Knights tie single-game home run record in thrashing of the Cougars 

Despite Houston looking to rebound from eight consecutive losses, UCF showed out, tying a program record by hitting eight home runs to run-rule the Cougars 16-1 in the series opener. 

Senior pitcher Nicole Bodeux started the game for the Cougars and only managed to record one out, while giving up five runs including two home runs. This marked the second straight game the Cougars’ starting pitcher did not last at least one inning. 

The Knights came out hot, hitting two home runs in the first and had at least one home run in each inning. All the Knights’ runs came off home runs. 

Senior infielder Aubrey Evan led the team with three home runs, five RBI and tied the program record for home runs in a game. 

Redshirt senior infielder Ashleigh Griffen and sophomore utility Kendall Yarnell combined for four home runs. Griffin entered the game batting .195 and managed to get a season-high four hits.  

Redshirt sophomore pitcher Isabella Vega delivered a strong outing going four innings, allowing one hit and zero runs. 

The Cougars have 10 games this season where they have given up more than 10 runs, with five of those being in the last 10 games.  

Vega records perfect game in second straight run rule of Cougars 

If there is anything the Cougars can take away from this game, it is the fact that they allowed fewer runs than Friday. The only problem: they were no-hit in an 11-0 loss. 

Vega made her second straight start of the series and showed no signs of slowing down by throwing a perfect game and punching out seven in five innings. Vega has allowed just one hit in two games.  

Despite only getting four hits, the Knights scored 11 runs due to sophomore pitchers Neveah Brown and London Park walking in two batters each. 

Sophomore infielder Coco Jaimes then hit a grand slam to cap off a 10-run second inning. 

Brown and Park combined for 9 walks in two innings led by Brown giving up a season high seven. This marked another game that the pitching staff never got going. Brown received the loss falling to 8-7. 

The loss also meant a fourth consecutive series loss for Houston.

Gore’s first home run overshadowed by UCF program record in series finale

After UCF tied its own record for home runs in a game in the series-opener, they proceeded to break that record in the finale, hitting 10 home runs in a 22-8 rout of Houston.  

The Knights junior infielder Sierra Humphreys and sophomore utility Izzy Mertes combined for six home runs with three of them coming in the seventh inning. 

Yarnell had two home runs on Sunday, and four for the series.  

Griffin and sophomore catcher Beth Damon each had one home run.  

Vega, coming off her perfect game, struggled by giving up a three-run home run to sophomore infielder Maddie Hartley. Vega still managed to pull out the win and won all three games of the series, moving her record to 12-4. 

In the fourth inning down 10-3 with two runners on and the Cougars needing a spark, freshman utility Hailey Gore came up to bat.  

“During the at-bat, I was really just thinking about my team, and whatever I can do to get us back in the game,” Gore said. 

She came through. On an 0-2 count, Gore smashed the ball to left field, scoring three runs and hitting her first career home run, getting a loud applause from her teammates. 

“It was just a one-of-a-kind feeling,” Gore said. “They were all just so proud of me and they just know all the work that I put in.”

The pitching staff for the Cougars struggled again as six players appeared, and each gave up at least one run, and five of them gave up a home run. Brown took the loss, moving her record to 8-8. 

This marks the second time this season that a team has broken their school record for home runs in a game against Houston, with the first coming against Kansas just two weeks ago.

Up next, the now 17-21 Cougars will look to end the losing streak when they travel to Corpus Christi to take on the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders on March 31. The first pitch is set for 4 p.m.