Box Score ORLANDO, Fla. – After an hour rain delay, Oakland University Softball finished its fifth and final game of The Knights Classic Presented by Knight Pass with a 3-0 defeat against host UCF on Monday night.

The Golden Grizzlies were up first against the receiving vote Knights who were coming off a 12-11 slugfest loss to No. 4 Florida Sunday night. Lauren Griffith's single to left field was sandwiched between a pair of Oakland outs to put OU in the dugout quickly to force UCF to go three up and down to end the frame.
 

First look, first hit for @CameronRiggz. 👀#DefendTheDen pic.twitter.com/DX6PXBTuaL

— Oakland Softball (@OaklandSoftball) March 1, 2022

Oakland would get two hits in the second but would fall once more to a strikeout to end the Golden Grizzlies' offensive threat to leave two on base. Both teams would go up and down until the fourth inning where a walk to open the inning would prove fatal as a throwing error a few batters later by shortstop brought an unearned run across as the Knights would go up 1-0. 

Madison Jones' single to center field advanced Shannon Carr to second in the top of the fifth as Oakland would attempt to answer but be shutout by two strikeouts from the UCF battery. OU's defense would hold in the bottom of the fifth before coming up empty on the next side.

The bottom of the sixth saw a strikeout by Sydney Campbell to start the inning before two straight singles up the middle and left field put two baserunners on for the Knights as a two RBI double to the center field wall would bring both of those across as the host would inflate their lead to 3-0.

With one last attempt at tying things up or taking a lead, Carr was able to get to first on an error out in left field as Jones would be walked in the next at-bat. With the tying run at home plate, UCF would sink a critical strikeout as the next attempt would see the high-fly ball float into the center fielder's glove for the final out of the game. 

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

• Griffith went 2-4 in her Monday night showing, being left on base four times
• Griffith also led the team in hits with two while Jones, Cammie Brummitt, and Maci Brown each had one
• Campbell had finished with an ERA of 2.88 in 6.0 innings of work to allow three runs, two of which earned, with three strikeouts 
• Three errors is the most OU has committed in the short season

Oakland will travel further into the panhandle for its next game on Wednesday, March 2 at 6:00 p.m. against No. 3 Florida State in Tallahassee.