 "Photo: Shaun Bevan")
The UCF Softball team was hoping for another magical season when they entered the 2009 season.
On the heels of winning the 2008 Conference USA Tournament title and a berth in the NCAA Gainesville Regional, at which they beat the No. 1 ranked Florida Gators forcing a decisive game to determine the regional champion, The Knights were looking to repeat the success of one of its finest seasons.
Picked to finish fourth in the C-USA preseason poll, the Knights were never able to build momentum throughout the season.
UCF finished the season with a 26-28 record and posted an 11-12 record in conference play.
Early losses to Texas Tech, Arizona State and Western Michigan set the tone for the year.
One bright spot for this squad came in the UCF Early Bird Tournament, in which they faced off against the Southeastern Conference's Tennessee Lady Volunteers. Ranked 11th in the nation, Tennessee needed eight innings to take a victory from the Knights, winning 1-0 in the extra frame.
Two mid-season conference road series sweeps at the hands of Tulsa and East Carolina put the Knights in a deep hole they could not dig themselves out of, and they played catch-up for the rest of the year.
UCF was able to reel up a string of victories at the beginning of April, winning five in a row, four of which came at home.
The UCF Softball Complex was a friendlier place for the team then the road. The Knights were 20-14 on their home dirt while compiling a 6-10 record away from Orlando.
The Knights took two of three at home against every C-USA foe they faced.
UAB, Southern Miss, Marshall and UTEP each fell to UCF at home.
The Knights were able to pick up their first road conference win on April 19 when they split a double-header with Houston taking a 3-1 win.
In its April 24-25 series at Memphis, UCF dropped the first game of the series but recovered and took the next two securing their first road series victory.
The Knights took a trip to the No. 1 team in the nation in mid-April when they headed to Gainesville.
UCF showed its continued struggle at the plate, as they only mustered three hits falling 3-0 to Florida.
Run scoring and critical hitting was a struggle for the Knights.
They were shut out eight times and had 92 fewer hits and scored 86 fewer runs than in 2008.
A mid-season, mid-week loss to Loyola Chicago — in which they were downed 10-4 by a team that finished 28-24 — showed the Knights they had a lot to work on.
On April 10, junior Kristina DeMello pitched a one-hitter against Marshall in the second game of a doubleheader.
But the pitching, like the hitting, fluctuated during the season.
The inexperienced pitching staff was rattled at times and was unable to overcome the times when the offense stalled.
The Knights scored more than five runs just four times in their 28 losses.
UCF earned a berth in the 2009 C-USA Championship, which was hosted by UTEP in El Paso, Texas.
Looking to defend their conference crown, the fifth-seeded Knights and locked horns with Marshall, the team from which they took two of three a month earlier.
The Knights held Marshall to 2 runs, but UCF scored just 1.
UCF had many opportunities to score but the bats were not able to produce.
The Knights were ousted in the quarterfinals the way they lost a lot of games this season, by not being able to score enough runs.
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