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ORLANDO – The UCF Softball team will look to cap off the regular season at home this weekend as the RV Knights will invite RV South Florida to the UCF Softball Complex for a four-game conference series spanning from May 7-9.
The series will open with a Friday night showdown at 6:00 p.m. The two sides will then square off in a doubleheader on Saturday with games at 2:00 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. before wrapping things up with a Sunday afternoon game on Mother's Day set for 12:00 p.m.
All four games will be streamed live on ESPN+.
TICKETING/COVID-19 PROTOCOLS
Capacity for The UCF Softball Complex this season is roughly fifty percent of full capacity.
A very limited number of single-game tickets will be made available 24-48 hours prior to each home game. Single game ticket inventory will come from unclaimed visiting team and player guest ticket allotments and will vary by game.
Fans interested in purchasing tickets are encouraged to check their UCF Account Manager page HERE leading up to each home game for ticket availability.
All tickets will be $10 general admission seats. There will be NO walk-up tickets available day of game as it is online purchase only.
Fans will be required to wear face coverings at all times, except while actively eating or drinking. Other safety measures in place for the 2021 season include:
- Hand sanitizer stations will be located throughout the concourse
- Bathrooms and other common touch points will be cleaned and sanitized regularly
- COVID-19 signage encouraging best practices will be located throughout the facility
- Certain seating will be blocked off to encourage physical distancing
For the latest information on ticketing for 2021 UCF Softball home events, contact the ticket office at (407) 823-1000, or follow us on social at UCF Softball on Facebook (/UCFSoftball), Twitter (@UCF_Softball) and Instagram (@UCF.Softball).
THE BULLS
South Florida enters the final weekend of the regular season needing three wins in four games against the Knights to clinch a regular-season championship and the top seed in next week's 2021 American Softball Championship at Tulsa.
The Bulls have compiled a 15-4 (.789) record through 19 conference starts, just ahead of No. 25 Wichita State whose league season ended with an 18-5-1 (.771) mark.
A series victory for South Florida would push the Bulls to either 18-5 (.782) or 19-4 (.826) and ahead of Wichita State in the final standings, clinching a third straight South Florida regular-season title and tournament top seed. Wichita State, conversely, would clinch the No. 1 seed with a South Florida split or series loss against the Knights. It would mark the first league title for the Shockers since joining The American prior to the 2018 season.
Bulls' junior pitcher Georgina Corrick laid claim to American Pitcher of the Week accolades for the seventh time this season and repeated as the NFCA National Pitcher of the Week following a historic series against East Carolina. Corrick became the first pitcher in the history of The American to throw no-hitters on back-to-back days, finishing the four-game series against ECU with a 2-1 record and spotless ERA over 24.2 innings pitched. She held the Pirates to a .026 batting average (two hits) in four appearances.
Corrick currently ranks second nationally in strikeouts (276) and shutouts (12) and eighth in strikeouts per seven innings (11.0).
KNIGHT BITES
THE WAR ON I-4
In September 2016, UCF and South Florida announced their joint creation of a rivalry series to unite the communities and campuses in Tampa Bay and Orlando in an annual competition. Since then, the Knights have won the all-sports rivalry every year, and 2020-21 is no different. Heading into the weekend series with the Bulls, the Knights lead and have clinched the 2020-21 all-sports series, 48.75-23.25 (baseball and softball games count for 1.5 points this season as a result of four-game series). UCF Softball is 11-16 all-time against the Bulls after dropping three games in their most recent series in 2019.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
The Knights have had six players named conference players of the week throughout the 2021 season. Most recently, Jada Cody was tabbed the conference Player of the Week as she was the backbone of a UCF attack that posted 29 runs to sweep Memphis on the road. Knights' pitchers Alea White and Gianna Mancha have both earned the award twice. Mancha was also tabbed NFCA DI National Player of the Week on March 14 after tossing a three-hit shutout and striking out nine to help guide UCF to a 2-0 victory over then No. 2 Arizona.
TOP FIVE TAKEDOWNS
The Knights' have three wins over top-five ranked teams in the country to this point in the season with wins over No. 5 Florida (twice - March 24, 8-6 and April 14, 7-0) and No. 2 Arizona (March 8, 2-0). UCF has played seven games against a top-25 opponent in 2021 as the Knights have already done battle with then No. 20 Mizzou (L, 6-5), No. 2 Arizona, No. 5 Florida and No. 24 South Carolina (L, 9-1, L, 4-2, W, 10-4). UCF's matchup with the Gators on Wednesday marked just the third time in program history that the two sides have squared off while ranked in the top 25. The first time was on Feb. 25, 2015 when then No. 15 UCF lost to then No.1 Florida, 2-1, in Gainesville.
PACING THE LEAGUE
Heading into the week, the Knights are first in The American and 32nd in the nation in batting average (.308) and first in the conference and 16th in the nation shutouts (14). UCF first baseman Jazmine Esparza is 19th in the country and leads the conference with 14 doubles herself. In the circle, Alea White's 15 victories have her tied for 25th in the country and third in the league in that regard.
WHITE KNIGHT
UCF Softball has a new all-time wins leader in Alea White. White secured career win No. 81 in the series finale over New Mexico State on Feb. 21, passing Shelby Turnier as the winningest pitcher in program history. On the mound, White was lights out in her record-setting performance. She was perfect through four and threw a complete game, allowing no earned runs on just four hits while striking out eight.
FOLLOW THE KNIGHTS
Stay tuned to UCF Softball on Facebook (/UCFSoftball), Twitter (@UCF_Softball) and Instagram (@UCF.Softball) for the latest on the UCF Softball team.
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