The Florida A&M Lady Rattlers defeated in-state rivals, the Lady Knights of University of Central Florida Feb. 23, at The Lady Ratter Complex. The Lady Rattlers won five to four and improved their record to 5-5 on the season.
The Lady Rattlers were led by their pitcher, Whitney Robinson, who picked up her third win of the season to improve to 3-3. She had four strikeouts and didn’t allow a run until the sixth inning. With her bat, she brought in two R.B.I.’s.
The Lady Rattlers were aggressive early, which resulted in four errors for the Lady Knights.
Left Fielder, and Co-Captain, Tenisha Dixon was happy with the way the team struck early and that they were able to execute their game plan.
“I believe our aggressiveness today put pressure and threatened them early,” Dixon said. “Our game plan was to come out aggressive and stay aggressive because that’s Rattler ball. We like to get the upper hand and keep it that way because we play like we have nothing to lose.”
The Lady Rattlers blew the game open in the fourth inning with three runs, to build their lead to 4-0. The Lady Knights pitcher, Haley Douglas, acknowledged Florida A&M for getting timely hits when needed.
“I felt like my location was where it needed to be but FAMU was able to get timely hits and stayed aggressive, which allowed for the big fourth inning,” She said.
The Lady Rattlers assistant coach, Lori Goodart, was pleased with the performance but would like for the team to get more consistent hits, as they left seven runners stranded on base.
“We need our hitters to come up with more timely hits. The more repetition, the better we will get at bringing runners home,” Goodart said.
UCF head coach, Renee Gillispie, praised Florida A&M on their victory and acknowledged them as a solid ball club.
“Kudos to Florida A&M tonight. They made clutch hits and played solid defense which contributed to their win. I expect them to go far and win the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference,” Gillispie said.
The Lady Rattlers return to action Saturday Feb. 26 at the Lady Rattler Complex. They will face Savannah State at noon and Canisius College at 2 P.M.