Feb. 20, 2009

Boston College Box Score
UCF Box Score

ORLANDO, Fla. - The UIC softball team opened the UCF Invitational on Friday against Boston College, followed by host Central Florida with a pair of losses this afternoon.

Game One: Boston College 5, UIC 4
In a tight battle with Boston College, freshman Ashley Hewett threw a season-best seven strikeouts and Sarah Clynes went one for two with a pair of runs in the Flames opening contest at the UCF Softball Complex on Friday afternoon.

Both sides wasted little time to get things going offensively as Brooke Frydendall's two out, RBI single drove Clynes home in the first. The Eagles answered in the bottom of the inning to tie things up.

After a quiet second inning, Stephanie Chavez's third-inning single to deep center brought in Melinda Macias and Clynes, right before Melissa Marinacci picked up an RBI of her own when Chavez rounded the bases to give the Flames a 4-1 lead. But BC mimicked in the bottom of the inning with a trio of runs of their own.

Tied going into the sixth, the Eagles loaded the bases before lead-off hitter Brittany Wilkins smashed a deep center-field single that drove in BC's go-ahead run . The Flames prevented any other scoring opportunities as the inning came to a close with three left on base for BC, but were unable to answer in the seventh for the final 5-4 score.

In five innings of work, Hewett accrued a season-high seven strikeouts and was charged with all five runs in the afternoon outing.

Game Two: UCF 9, UIC 1 (six inn.)
Not deterred by the tight loss, UIC jumped right into their second contest of the day against host UCF, scoring first off of a single by Melissa Marinacci.

UCF's pitcher, Kristina DeMello, would quash any more offense for UIC, limiting the Flames to a mere four hits for the duration of the game.

The Knights broke things open with five runs between the third and fourth innings, and drew things to a close with three more in the bottom of the sixth.

Brooke Frydendall picked up a hit in the fourth inning, extending her hitting streak to five games.

In 5.1 innings, Sarah Clynes scattered 13 hits with five earned runs to fall to 0-4 on the season.

UIC will look to shake their current losing streak on Saturday, facing Portland State at 11 a.m. and Oklahoma State at 3:30 p.m. CST. Both contests will be available through gametracker.