ORLANDO – Fresh off its conference-opening three-game series against the No. 22 Wichita State Shockers over the weekend, the UCF softball team now looks ahead to a Wednesday night tilt against the North Florida Ospreys before its first AAC road trip of the season at the East Carolina Pirates this weekend.
The Knights (19-18, 1-2 AAC) began play within the American Athletic Conference over the weekend with a 1-2 showing in their three games against the Shockers (26-7, 2-1 AAC), winning a low-scoring 3-1 affair in the series-opener Friday night before dropping their next two by a combined 16 runs to five.
Right-hander Sarah Willis starred for the Knights in the circle during the series-opener, tossing her third complete game of the season and her second of seven innings, all of which had come in her previous four appearances.
Against a Wichita State offense that entered the weekend leading The American in average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and runs per game, Willis bounced back quickly from allowing a first-inning solo home run. The junior transfer yielded only three hits and one walk in the game's final six innings, surrendering only one run on four hits and one walk with six punchouts in total by evening's end.
The Ontario, California, native punctuated her strong weekend with 1.1 scoreless innings and one strikeout out of the bullpen during UCF's Sunday finale, finishing the series with a 0.84 ERA (8.1 IP, 1 ER) and seven strikeouts to receive a selection to The American's weekly Honor Roll for the fourth consecutive week.
Utility player Jada Cody and first baseman Shannon Doherty both continued to re-write program history at the plate throughout the weekend series as well, as Cody claimed sole possession of third place on the UCF all-time RBI list Friday with a first-inning RBI triple, notching the 137th RBI of her career in the process.
Cody also slugged the 30th home run of her four-year career Sunday afternoon, becoming the third Knight in program history to reach the milestone while also inching ever closer to Jania Shinhoster's second-place RBI total of 140 with her 138th RBI.
Doherty punctuated UCF's offensive exploits Sunday afternoon with a seventh-inning two-run homer as well, claiming sole possession of fourth place on the Knights' all-time home run list with her 24th career long ball and breaking a tie with Farrah Sullivan and Samantha McCloskey.
The Sunday fireworks aided the Knights in maintaining their top-three status in The American in doubles (46, 1st), slugging percentage (.434, 2nd), home runs per game (0.76, 2nd) and runs per game (4.38, 3rd) entering their mid-week tilt against the Ospreys.
North Florida (19-11, 2-4 ASUN) most recently dropped a 1-0 pitchers' duel in the finale of a three-game set against Stetson Sunday, but still brings to Orlando wins in four of its last five games overall. The Knights have historically enjoyed a good deal of success against the Ospreys, boasting a 16-6 overall record in the 22 meetings between the two schools.
In the lone matchup between the schools last season, UCF claimed a narrow 2-1 win on the road over North Florida behind a Doherty RBI double and an Ashleigh Griffin run-scoring single, both of which plated Cody.
Against the Ospreys, the Knights will contend with an offensive group that ranks within the top five in the ASUN in doubles (41, 2nd), on-base percentage (.347, 5th), slugging percentage (.381, 5th) and runs per game (4.37, 5th). The team is led offensively by senior outfielder Shannon Glover, who has produced a .383/.426/.628 (36-for-94) line with 15 extra-base hits and 59 total bases.
In the circle, North Florida has relied mostly upon sophomore Ashley Connor and graduate student Izzy Kelly. The pair boast respective ERAs of 1.62 (91 IP, 21 ER) and 2.48 (62 IP, 22 ER), with Connor racking up a team-leading 72 strikeouts against 35 walks.
ECU, meanwhile, has enjoyed a 21-12 start to the 2023 season despite dropping each of its first three conference matchups at South Florida over the weekend. The Pirates most recently suffered an 8-0 run-rule defeat Sunday afternoon and were outscored by an aggregate 23-6 in the series.
Like the Knights, ECU also has a non-conference tilt slated for Wednesday night before the commencement of the weekend series, as the Pirates will conclude their five-game road trip with one matchup against the North Carolina Tar Heels.
UCF has also enjoyed similar historic success against ECU, boasting a 31-19 overall record against the Pirates in their 50 total matchups. The Knights swept the Pirates in three games at the UCF Softball Complex a year ago, outscoring ECU by a combined 9-2 in the series.
The Pirates, who rank third in The American in ERA with a team mark of 3.11 (222.2 IP, 99 ER), are led in the circle by the duo of junior left-hander Addy Bullis and sophomore southpaw Jordan Hatch. The pair has posted respective ERAs of 1.52 (96.2 IP, 21 ER) and 3.11 (81 IP, 36 ER) while combining for 136 strikeouts (70 and 66, respectively).
At the plate, graduate student Taylor Edwards represents ECU's most potent offensive threat thus far, as the utility player has posted a .371/.459/.596 (33-for-89) slashline accompanied by a 1.055 OPS, 13 extra-base hits, 53 total bases and 18 RBI.
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