TULSA, Okla. – On the heels of its comfortable 9-1 run-rule rout of the visiting FIU Panthers on its Autism Awareness Day at home April 11, the (RV) UCF softball team is firing on all cylinders and looking to carry its momentum into its second conference road trip.
The Knights (25-18, 4-2 AAC), looking to extend their overall six-game win streak and three-game conference win streak this weekend, will square off in three games against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane.
The weekend trip also represents the Knights' second journey of the season to Oklahoma, and their first since mid-March when the squad took part in the 2023 OSU Mizuno Classic hosted by the then-No. 2 Oklahoma State Cowgirls in Stillwater.
UCF makes the trek back to the Sooner state riding the high of its six-game win streak against the likes of North Florida, East Carolina, FGCU and FIU. In that span, UCF has outscored its opposition by an aggregate 40-7 on the strength of dominant work in the circle by right-handers Grace Jewell and Sarah Willis and a potent offensive attack led by first baseman Shannon Doherty.
Of the 39 total innings worked by Knights pitchers in their last six games, the Jewell-Willis tandem have covered 36.2. The former has logged the majority of innings in the circle as of late, working at least 5.2 innings in three of her last four appearances including her fifth complete-game shutout of the season against ECU April 1.
Jewell has been nearly untouchable in that span, posting an ERA of just 0.59 (23.2 IP, 2 ER) with 14 strikeouts, seven walks and a .120 batting average-against. Entering the weekend series, she co-leads the team with Willis with a 2.20 ERA (92.1 IP, 29 ER), accompanied by 54 strikeouts and a .180 batting average-against that currently ranks eighth-lowest in a single season in program history (min. 50 IP).
Willis enters the road trip on the heels of her strong start against the Panthers Tuesday afternoon, during which she tossed four scoreless frames with two punchouts while allowing only three hits in the Knights' five-inning win. Since UCF's Feb. 23 doubleheader against Gardner-Webb, Willis has been among the Knights' most effective arms, logging a team-best 1.17 ERA (60 IP, 10 ER) with a team-high 56 strikeouts and a batting average-against of only .169.
Offensively, first baseman Shannon Doherty has spearheaded the Knights' efforts with a reinvigorated second half of her season. After recording a .224 average (19-for-85) with two home runs through her first 31 games, Doherty has turned the corner in a massive way, hitting for a team-best .481 (13-for-27) average in her last 11 games, accompanied by six extra-base hits (two doubles and four home runs), nine walks, 11 RBI and 27 total bases.
Teammates Aubrey Evans, Chloe Evans and Jada Cody have complemented Doherty well at the plate as well, as all three have posted identical .344 (11-for-32) averages in that span. The trio have combined for 15 extra-base hits (nine doubles, three triples and three home runs) and 16 RBI over the Knights' last 11 contests.
Chloe Evans has also notably shot up the UCF single-season triples leaderboard, as she now sits just two shy of tying Tiffany Lane (8) for the most in a single season in program history following her two-triple game against FIU that pushed her season total to six.
This weekend, the Knights will face a Tulsa squad off to a 16-21 start, including a 2-4 mark within The American. The Golden Hurricane has lost each of its last five games, including a 9-1 decision to the No. 3 Cowgirls Tuesday. Against Tulsa, UCF will look to continue its recent positive trend that has since righted a discouraging skid.
Prior to the Knights' three-game sweep of the Golden Hurricane last season, UCF had dropped six of its previous seven games against Tulsa, and the Knights trail in the all-time series 27-24.
The Black and Gold got back on track against their conference foes in 2022, outscoring the Golden Hurricane by an aggregate 12-1 in three games including a 2-0 shutout win and an 8-0 run-rule victory in the series finale.
Cody paced the team with a .500 average (4-for-8) accompanied by one double and two RBI in the series, followed by Doherty's .444 (4-for-9) mark with two doubles and four RBI.
This season, Tulsa is led offensively by senior outfielder Haley Morgan, a Durant, Oklahoma, native who boasts a .407/.431/.602 (44-for-108) line with 10 extra-base hits, 21 RBI and 65 total bases. She has hit safely in 26 of her 34 games thus far, including three multi-hit games in her last four contests.
In the circle, the Maura Moore-Kylee Nash duo have shouldered most of the work for the Golden Hurricane, throwing 217.2 of the team's 239.1 innings this season. Moore has posted a team-low 3.06 ERA (119 IP, 52 ER) while racking up a team-best 82 strikeouts and limiting her opposition to a .231 average.
The two squads will face off at 6 p.m. in the Friday series-opener at Collins Family Softball Complex before wrapping up the set with a pair of matinee affairs at 3 p.m. and 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.