UCF Set for The Knights Classic Sponsored by Knight Pass

ORLANDO, Fla. – The UCF softball team is right back in action this weekend as it hosts The Knights Classic sponsored by Knight Pass, starting at 9 a.m. on Friday.

The Black and Gold will play five games over the next four days, starting with a matchup against Ole Miss on Friday at 6 p.m. UCF will host James Madison and DePaul on Saturday in a 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. double header. The Knights will meet No. 4 Florida on Sunday at 4 p.m. after sweeping the Gators in an in-season home-and-home in 2021. UCF wraps up the tournament with a Monday meeting with Oakland, with first pitch at 6 p.m.

The Knights enter the weekend with a 7-5 record, earning an 11-0 win over FIU on Wednesday. Gianna Mancha brough a no-hitter into the fifth inning but saw it go by the wayside against the first batter of the inning, finishing the contest with her second one-hitter of the season. Grace Jewell and Emmerson Lee homered in the game, the first hits of their careers. The Black and Gold have played one of the toughest schedules in the country to this point, facing five ranked opponents and another three that were receiving votes in the NFCA Top 25.

Ole Miss, James Madison and No. 4 Florida all made the NCAA Tournament last season and are three of the 16 teams that UCF will face this year that made the postseason. So far, the Knights are 4-4 against teams that made the 2021 NCAA Tournament, beating No. 12 Georgia, Fresno State, Liberty and No. 11 Texas while falling to Minnesota, No. 19 Michigan, No. 18 Tennessee and No. 5 Florida State.

Ole Miss enters the weekend with an 8-3 record. The Rebels just wrapped up their trip at the Troy Invitational, finishing 4-1. They won decisively over Nicholls State to open the tournament before squeaking by Eastern Kentucky 2-1. The following day saw Ole Miss shut out Eastern Kentucky in an 8-0 win before falling to Troy 4-3 later on. The Rebels got their revenge the following day, earning an 8-7 win. Tate Whitley leads the way at the plate for Ole Miss, batting .500 through 34 at-bats thus far with eight RBI. Bre Roper, KK Esparza and Abbey Latham are all hitting above .300 so far, starting and playing in all 11 games. Savannah Diederich has tallied the most innings, strikeouts and wins in the circle for the Rebels, working 24.1 innings with 26 punchouts, leading to a 3-0 record.

James Madison has just begun its 2022 campaign, going 3-1 so far and receiving votes in both the NFCA and USA Softball polls. They were initially ranked in both polls before falling out week one after not playing any games. The Dukes were the talk of the college softball last season, putting together a Cinderella run to the Women's College World Series. They are the last of UCF's three opponents in 2022 that made the 2021 Women's College World Series, splitting decisions against Georgia and Florida State this spring. James Madison is 3-1 so far, with their lone loss coming to Charlotte by a score of 6-1 at the Charlotte Invitational. Hannah Hennessy and Kayla Boseman are both hitting over .400 for the Dukes while Emily Phillips leads the team in homers, knocking a pair over the fence and batting .333. James Madison has only used two arms for more than an inning with Alissa Humphrey racking up 13.2 innings pitched while Alexis Bermudez has tossed 13.

DePaul started its season 5-0 but have dropped their last three games. They started hot, sweeping the DePaul Dome Tournament by beating Valparaiso, Western Michigan, St. Thomas and Murray State. The Blue Demons beat Iowa 13-0 to open the San Diego Classic, but followed that up with losses to San Diego, Oregon State and South Dakota State. Brooke Johnson has answered the bell at the plate for DePaul, batting .455 with four homers and 12 RBI through eight games. In the circle, Sarah Lehman and Natalie Halvorson have each thrown 19 innings, with both having exactly 19 strikeouts and four walks. Erin Hocker is the other pitcher on staff, earning a 3.62 ERA through 9.2 innings pitched.

The Gators are perfect to this point in the season, winning their first dozen games and checking in at No. 4 in the NFCA, USA Softball and Softball America Polls and No. 3 in D1Softball's poll. They rolled through USF's opening weekend tournament, surrendering just one run through four games while scoring 26 runs. They followed that up with a two-game sweep of Jacksonville, beating the Dolphins by a combined count of 21-1. Their last six victories came via defeats of No. 14 Duke, Villanova, Louisville, Florida A&M and two over North Florida. The Gators have eight hitters batting over .300 so far, including three over .400. Kendra Falby leads the way with a .513 average through 39 at-bats, homering once and knocking in seven RBI. As a team, Florida is hitting .358. The Gators have used five arms in the circle, as Lexi Delbrey has collected the most innings pitched, earning a 1.06 ERA through 26.1 innings of work with 31 strikeouts.

Oakland has yet to begin its season and will play their first five games of 2022 in Orlando. The Golden Grizzlies finished 2021 with a 26-16 record, reaching the Horizon League championship game, ending their campaign. Cammie Brummitt, Lauren Griffith, Madison Jones, Sydney Campbell and Jen Krizka all return after earning Horizon League honors last season. The five combined for a .373 batting average with Jones returning with a team high .411 clip. Oakland was picked to finish first in the Horizon League in their preseason coaches poll, with a total of two first-place and 82 points.

TICKETS FOR THIS WEEKEND
Stadium tickets for all Sunday games are sold out. Fans still have a chance to catch all the action from the outfield, where it is first come, first served free viewing. Tickets still remain for every other day of the tournament.

FULL KNIGHTS CLASSIC SPONSORED BY KNIGHT PASS SCHEDULE
Friday, February 25
9:30 am | James Madison vs. Oakland | Live Stats
12:00 pm | Ole Miss vs. James Madison | Live Stats
2:30 pm | Oakland vs. DePaul | Live Stats
6:00 pm | Ole Miss at UCF | Live Stats
8:30 pm | DePaul vs. Florida | Live Stats

Saturday, February 26
11:00 am | DePaul vs. Ole Miss | Live Stats
1:30 pm | James Madison at UCF | Live Stats
4:00 pm | DePaul at UCF | Live Stats
6:30 pm | Oakland vs. Florida | Live Stats

Sunday, February 27
9:00 am | Ole Miss vs. DePaul | Live Stats
11:00 am | Oakland vs. Ole Miss | Live Stats
1:00 pm | Florida vs. James Madison | Live Stats
4:00 pm | Florida at UCF | Live Stats

Monday, February 28
6:00 pm | Oakland at UCF | Live Stats

TICKETS
Season and single game tickets are on sale now! Don't miss any of the action this year, click here to purchase season tickets now or click here for single game tickets!

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