ORLANDO – Fresh off its 3-1 showing during its season-opening Black & Gold Classic last weekend, the UCF softball squad, ranked as high as No. 14 in the national poll release Tuesday, is set to host No. 23 Missouri Wednesday night in the Knights' final game before the TaxAct Clearwater Invitational this weekend.
UCF rode strong pitching performances, standout defensive plays and timely offense to wins in three of its first four games. Following a narrow 4-2 defeat to then-No. 15 Georgia that saw the Knights yield just four hits to the Bulldogs, right-hander Kaitlyn Felton turned in a career outing in her second appearance and first start of the season.
The sophomore tossed her first career seven-inning complete game and struck out a career-high 13 hitters against the UMass Minutewomen Friday evening, marking the most strikeouts in a single game by a UCF pitcher since Gianna Mancha's 13 punchouts in her April 23, 2021, no-hitter at Memphis. In her dominant performance, Felton allowed just one run on one hit and one walk while throwing 118 pitches.
The righty's complete game highlighted an impressive weekend that saw her throw 11.1 innings and allow only two unearned runs on four hits with 17 strikeouts in four appearances, while garnering American Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week honors for her efforts.
Complementing Felton were strong performances from a handful of other Knights pitchers, including a career-high seven strikeouts from junior Grace Jewell against Boise State Friday night, a six-strikeout start from Sarah Willis against Georgia, a steady start to the season in relief for lefty Angelina DeVoe, and a pair of freshman debuts for Macy Miles and Katelyn Cochran.
On the other side of the ball, the Knights were not lacking in timely moments at the plate. UCF supported Felton's dominant start against UMass with seven runs, courtesy of Jasmine Williams' first homer of the season, a two-run single by Shannon Doherty, a Jada Cody triple and a pair of RBI walks.
Transfer outfielder Chloe Evans stole the show in the nightcap, clubbing her second career walk-off homer in the bottom of the seventh inning after the Knights watched a fast start slip away against Boise State, and Evans again came through with a key RBI double in the Knights' 1-0 win over Ohio State to punctuate the tournament in support of a stifling effort by Willis, DeVoe and Felton in the circle. Evans' first walk-off home run came during the 2022 Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Arizona on Feb. 19 in the eighth against Illinois State
The Knights wrapped their first weekend of play among national leaders in a handful statistical categories, including their .346 team batting average (2nd in The American, 32nd in the nation), .523 slugging percentage (2nd, 38th), .397 on-base percentage (3rd, 63rd), 4.75 runs per game (2nd, 84th), 2.25 ERA (3rd, 77th), and strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.00 (3rd, 102nd).
Knights fans in attendance Wednesday may also be treated to a bit of history, as third baseman Jada Cody enters the contest tied for fifth with Breanne Javier (2006-09) on UCF's all-time RBI list with 122, and needs one more to take sole possession of fifth place on the all-time list.
The Tigers enter the midweek tilt on a 3-2 start to the season and ranked as high as No. 23 in the nation (ESPN/USA Softball) following their participation in the NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Fla. Missouri's three wins include a 6-1 effort against Northwestern and run-rule victories over Fordham (13-3, 6 innings) and Prairie View A&M (11-0, 5 innings), though the Tigers also fell to Texas 11-1 and Louisville 4-0.
Missouri is led by a pair of hitters who boast an OPS north of 1.000 through five games, junior shortstop Jenna Laird and junior outfielder Alex Honnold. A trio of hurlers have paced the Tigers in the circle as well, as Cierra Harrison, Megan Schumacher and Laurin Krings have each produced an ERA below 3.00 in their respective two appearances.
First pitch from the UCF Softball Complex Wednesday evening is scheduled for 6 p.m.
