STILLWATER, Okla. – Playing in the third of its four scheduled contests during the 2023 OSU Mizuno Classic hosted by the No. 2 Oklahoma State Cowgirls, the (RV) UCF softball team dropped its second straight game, 6-0, to the No. 22 Arizona State Sun Devils at Cowgirl Stadium Saturday evening.
The contest marks consecutive defeats on the heels of Grace Jewell's first career no-hitter during the Knights' tournament-opener against the Sun Devils Friday afternoon after UCF also dropped its Friday evening nightcap to the Cowgirls, 4-0.
The Knights were unable to gain much offensive traction throughout a frigid and windy Oklahoma evening, collecting just four hits in their second straight shutout defeat, two of which came courtesy of junior right fielder Chloe Evans.
Fellow junior Sarah Willis surrendered an early run in the bottom of the first inning but did her part to limit the damage to just one despite allowing two hits and a walk in the frame.
Willis bounced back from the Sun Devils' early rally well, collecting her fourth strikeout of the evening in a perfect second inning and her fifth in a scoreless third that saw her work around a leadoff walk.
She was unable to escape the fourth inning unscathed, though, as Arizona State loaded the bases with nobody out and chased Willis from the contest. All three runs would later score, as well as two more following Willis' departure, to put the Knights in a 6-0 deficit by the time UCF recorded the final out of the frame.
One of the bright spots during the evening was represented by southpaw Angelina DeVoe. The junior reliever entered in relief of Kaitlyn Felton in the fourth inning and recorded the final out of the frame before going on to throw 2.1 innings of one-hit softball accompanied by a pair of strikeouts.
In her last four appearances spanning 5.2 innings of work, DeVoe has yielded just two runs (one earned) on four hits while collecting four strikeouts.
UP NEXT
The Knights will conclude play in the 2023 OSU Mizuno Classic Sunday afternoon, with their second scheduled contest against No. 2 Oklahoma State. First pitch from Cowgirl Stadium is slated for 1 p.m. ET.