ORLANDO, Fla. – With five tournament games during the 2023 Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, California behind it, the (RV) UCF softball team will conclude its six-game stretch away from home with a midweek matchup against the Florida Gators at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium in Gainesville, Florida, Wednesday evening.
The Knights (10-12, 0-0 AAC), despite collecting a win in only one of their five games on the west coast over the weekend, demonstrated impressive resolve throughout their play against a challenging schedule.
UCF opened the tournament at Anderson Family Field with a narrow 1-0 win against Fresno State behind six scoreless innings and nine strikeouts, both career-highs, from junior transfer Sarah Willis, an outing that aided the Ontario, California, native in being named to the American Athletic Conference's weekly Honor Roll Monday afternoon.
The Knights' offense struggled to gain traction in the team's next three games against Michigan, No. 2 UCLA and LMU, as UCF managed four runs in its first four games in the tournament including the win over the Bulldogs.
Thanks to a career outing from junior right-hander Grace Jewell against the second-ranked Bruins, though, the Knights gave UCLA a scare until the bottom of the seventh inning, when the Bruins plated the winning run in walk-off fashion with a single to left field.
UCF's offense experienced a revival in its tournament finale against the host Cal State Fullerton Titans, scoring six runs thanks to an RBI double from freshman Aubrey Evans, two RBI from veteran first baseman Shannon Doherty, including the 100th and 101st of her career, a two-run single from utility star Jada Cody that moved the junior into sole possession of fourth place on the all-time UCF RBI list with the 131st and 132nd of her career, and a late game-tying RBI single by Savannah Adams in the top of the seventh inning.
A late Titans rally in the home half of the seventh inning prevented the Knights' luck from turning, though, as UCF suffered its second walk-off defeat in as many days and fifth in 12 losses thus far.
With the initial NCAA college softball RPI rankings released Monday, three of UCF's five weekend opponents were ranked within the top 20 in the nation in the system that considers team win percentage, opponent win percentage and opponents' opponent win percentage: UCLA (1), Cal State Fullerton (18) and Michigan (20).
The Knights' Wednesday foe will represent the fourth team on UCF's six-game road trip slotted within the top 20 in the country in the NCAA's initial RPI rankings, as the Gators (14-3, 0-0 SEC) debut between the Titans and Wolverines at No. 19. The Knights, meanwhile, open at No. 55 in the nation.
Florida, ranked as high as eighth in the nation in last week's polls (NFCA/USA Today), has enjoyed a strong 14-3 start to its season entering its midweek tilt hosting the Knights. The Gators struggled through a 1-3 showing during the Mary Nutter Classic in Palm Springs, California, against a schedule that included matchups with No. 2 UCLA and No. 20 Oregon (NFCA/USA Today). Florida enters Wednesday's action riding a three-game win streak, though, having swept a three-game series at UAB by an aggregate 23-1 score, including two run-rule victories.
The UCF pitching staff will have its hands full with a Gators offense that ranks among the most explosive in Division I softball, as Florida is slotted within the top five in the country in on-base percentage (.489, 1st), runs per game (8.94, 2nd), slugging percentage (.622, 3rd), and average (.378, 4th).
The Gators have the quartet of Skylar Wallace (.515, 9th), Kendra Falby (.462, 34th), Avery Goelz (.435, 66th) and Charla Echols (.415, 101st) to thank for helping lead such a potent attack, as each rank within the top 101 players in the nation in batting average.
Wallace represents the team's offensive leader, with a .638 on-base percentage that also ranks fourth-highest in the country and a team-leading 36 total bases in 13 games.
In the circle, the UCF staff that will be tasked with slowing Florida's offense enjoyed an encouraging weekend in California. Led by eight innings with only two unearned runs allowed accompanied by 12 strikeouts by Willis, the Knights posted a 2.91 ERA (14 ER) in 33.2 innings of work.
Jewell produced arguably the best start of her career against the Bruins, having limited a UCLA offense that ranks 19th in the nation with 6.78 runs per game to just two runs in 6.1 innings, the second of which scored following her departure from the game.
Right-hander Kaitlyn Felton continued her impressive beginning to her sophomore season as well, collecting a team-leading 17 strikeouts in 13 innings of work, including a pair of eight-punchout games against Michigan and LMU.
The Valrico, Florida, native has now struck out seven hitters (or more) in four of her first 14 appearances (seven starts) and represents the team leader in the category with 53 on the season.
First pitch from Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium in Gainesville, Florida, is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday night.
