ORLANDO – Highlighted by 29 home games and 56 total contests, the UCF softball team has released its 2023 schedule. The Knights will face nine teams that finished 2022 in the NFCA's top 25, including five in the top 15. They'll play against 11 NCAA Tournament teams from last season and will play the first 17 games of the campaign in the state of Florida.
The Black and Gold will play six games against SEC teams, six games against four Big Ten teams, three games against a future Big 12 opponent, three games against a pair of Pac-12 Opponents and three contests facing two ACC opponents.
"We are proud of what we accomplished last season. Now, our women want to continue to push our program to new heights," said head coach Cindy Ball-Malone. "This schedule puts us in the position to accomplish our goals this season. Our women want to continue to host regionals, push ourselves to be a top eight program and be in the position to host our first super regional at The Plex. Our administration has been upgrading our facilities this year and we are committed to making a great gameday experience for our fans. This year's schedule prepares us to be in Oklahoma City in June."
BY THE NUMBERS
56 total games
29 home games
25 top 100 RPI opponents
17 games in Florida to start 2023
14 top 50 RPI opponents
11 opponents who reached the 2022 NCAA Tournament
10 top 25 RPI opponents
9 opponents who finished 2022 in the NFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll
5 Florida opponents
3 opponents who reached 2022 Super Regionals
3 top 10 RPI opponents
3 home tournaments
3 opponents who reached 2022 Women's College World Series
The Knights open 2023 with Georgia for the second straight season, hosting the Bulldogs for Opening Knight on Feb. 9 at 6 p.m. The Black and Gold went toe-to-toe with then No. 12-ranked Georgia to begin the 2022 campaign. UCF jumped out to a 5-2 lead after three innings of play but saw the Bulldogs rally back to tie the game at 6-6. The game went into extras and ended with an exclamation point as Shannon Doherty smashed a home run high and deep beyond the left field foul pole to earn the 7-6 win to open the year. Doherty helped UCF walk-off a total of three times over the course of the season, earning her nickname of "walk-off queen."
The contest against Georgia is the start of the Black & Gold Classic, a tournament that will host a total of four other teams. The Knights will face UMass and Boise State the following day before wrapping up their weekend against Ohio State on Feb. 11 at 5 p.m.
UCF will host its second SEC school in the first five games of the season as No. 23 Missouri visits Orlando on Feb. 15 at 6 p.m. The Tigers had a magical run to the SEC Championship game as a No. 7 seed last season where they fell to top-seed Arkansas. Missouri hosted a regional as the No. 15 national seed but were eliminated by Arizona, who was one of three unseeded teams to make the field of eight at the Women's College World Series.
The Knights take their first road trip of the season to the TaxAct Clearwater Invitational, the second straight year they've been a part of the field. The Knights begin with a rematch of the Orlando Regional Final against Michigan on Feb. 17 before playing Texas A&M later in the day. Feb. 18 sees UCF face a pair of ranked opponents, facing No. 12 Duke and No. 17 Alabama for 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. first pitches. The Black and Gold wrap up the tournament with a contest against No. 19 Mississippi State on Feb. 19 at 8 p.m. All five of the teams UCF will face in the Clearwater Invitational made the NCAA Tournament last season. More details on the Knights' opponents in Clearwater can be found here.
The Black and Gold begin a stretch of seven games in six straight days on Feb. 21 as UCF hosts Louisiana, one of last year's big surprises. They finished the year with a record of 47-13, winning the Sun Belt title before falling in the regional final to No. 10 nationally seeded Clemson. The Rajun Cajuns spent time in the NFCA rankings throughout the season and finished the year receiving votes. The Knights will travel to Stetson the following day for a 6 p.m. contest.
UCF returns home to host the Knights Classic, starting the tournament with a double header against Gardner-Webb on Feb. 23. The Black and Gold will face Louisville on Feb. 24 and 26 with a matchup against Purdue sandwiched on the day in-between.
The Knights will participate in the Judi Garmin Classic to begin March. After going 7-0 on their California swing in 2022, the Black and Gold will play five games in California this time around. The Judi Garmin Classic, along with the Clearwater Invitational, are two of the top tournaments in college softball. UCF starts by playing Fresno State and Michigan on Mar. 2 before playing a double header with No. 3 UCLA and Loyola Marymount the following day. The Knights conclude their California trip with a contest against Cal State Fullerton on Mar. 4.
UCF will reignite its in-state rivalry with No. 15 Florida upon returning to the Sunshine State, visiting the Gators on Mar. 8 for a 6 p.m. first pitch.
The Knights will host a round robin styled tournament from Mar. 10-12. UCF will play Toledo the first two days of the tournament with a double header on day two, hosting Kennesaw State in the later game. The Black and Gold will host North Dakota and Kennesaw State on the final day of the tournament.
Following the tournament weekend, the Knights will play a midweek double header with Rutgers on Mar. 14 starting at 4 p.m.
The Knights return to the road for a big weekend with two teams who reached super regionals last season, playing five combined games against Oklahoma State and Arizona State in Stillwater. UCF will play each team in back-to-back double header days on Mar. 17 and 18 before playing one final contest against the Cowgirls on that Sunday.
Conference play begins on the weekend of Mar. 24 as the Knights host Wichita State to open UCF's final campaign as part of the American Athletic Conference. The Black and Gold went toe-to-toe with the Shockers in the final series of the 2022 season, a three-game set that decided the regular season conference championship. After dropping game one, the Knights earned victories in the following two contests to clinch the regular season title.
UCF will host North Florida in a midweek on Mar. 29 before travelling to ECU for a three-game set starting Mar. 31, the site where the Knights won their conference tournament title last season.
The Black and Gold will play in a pair of non-conference midweeks surrounding their conference bye week, visiting FGCU on Apr. 5 before hosting FIU on Mar. 11.
UCF resumes conference play by traveling to Tulsa from Apr. 14-16. The Knights then resume their rivalry with South Florida, hosting the Bulls for the War On I-4 from Apr. 21-23. The Black and Gold swept their rivals on Florida's opposite coast for the first time in program history last season and went on to run rule them 11-0 in the conference championship game, taking the lead in the all-time series 20-19.
The Knights finish the home slate with a three-game series against Houston from Apr. 28-30 before finishing the regular season schedule on the road at Memphis from May 5-7.
TICKETS
Season and single game tickets will be available soon. For now, season ticket deposits can be placed here.
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