| SEMIFINAL: vs. Houston Friday, May 13, 9:00 a.m. WATCH (ESPN+) | LIVE STATS | CHAMPIONSHIP GAME Saturday, May 14, 11:00 a.m. WATCH (ESPN2) | LIVE STATS |
GREENVILLE, N.C. – The No. 17 UCF softball team is set to begin their 2022 American Athletic Conference Championship run as they'll face fourth-seeded Houston in the semifinals on Friday at 9:00 a.m., originally scheduled for 1 p.m.
The Knights finished the regular season on top of The American standings for the first time since 2015, winning their third regular season conference title. UCF and Wichita State battled it out in the final series of the regular season for the title. The Shockers took game one by a score of 11-4, but the Knights came storming back in games two and three, winning 3-1 in eight innings before taking the rubber match 9-5. The weekend was highlighted by Kennedy Searcy's two-RBI base knock in the eighth inning of game two as well as UCF swinging hot bats to the tune of nine runs and 11 hits in the series finale to secure the championship.
The Black and Gold will be going for their first conference tournament title since 2015, a year the Knights won both the regular season and tournament. UCF's run started with a 3-1 victory over South Florida before walking off in a 1-0 final over Tulsa in the championship game.
Jada Cody enters the tournament needing just three RBI to pass Stephanie Best's record of 66 set in 2003. Any RBI scored in the postseason counts towards her season total. She is currently fourth in the country in RBI along with being ranked 61st in the country with 62 hits and 38th in total bases.
In the circle, Gianna Mancha and Kama Woodall still rank in the top 100 in ERA, with Mancha posting a 1.70 ERA and sitting 43rd in the country while Woodall boasts a 2.10 ERA and is 96th in the nation.
As a team, the Knights enter the weekend ranked sixth in the nation in walks, drawing 219 free passes. That in turn has helped the team in ranking 19th in the country in on base percentage, posting a .399 clip so far. UCF is batting just a shade under .300 as a team, posting a .297 mark placing them 48th in the NCAA.
UCF jumped to No. 17 in three of the four major polls following their series victory over the Shockers. They remained at No. 21 in the NFCA poll. The Knights are just three spots away from tying their program best ranking of No. 14 in the USA Softball poll, a mark set back in 2015.
Houston reached the semifinals with a win over fifth-seeded Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane had a 2-0 lead halfway through the game but saw the Cougars come roaring back for a 5-2 victory. UCF faced Houston on the road earlier this year, winning the series by taking games one and two and narrowly falling in the series finale by a score of 9-8. On the other side of the bracket, second-seeded Wichita State and third-seeded South Florida advanced to the semifinals with 22-0 and 9-0 victories respectively.
UCF is 28-22 against Houston all-time, however they've never squared off at the American Championship. The Knights held a six-game winning streak before falling in the series finale in late April.
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