ORLANDO – On Friday, it was Chloe Evans and Sarah Willis who excelled in their debuts to the War on I-4 rivalry series. Saturday afternoon, junior right-hander Grace Jewell made her mark in the first appearance of her college career against the South Florida Bulls.
On the back of five strong innings of one-run ball from Jewell and a stingy effort from the Knights' relief corps, UCF clinched a series win over its western rivals, 3-1, at the UCF Softball Complex with a chance to complete the sweep Sunday afternoon.
In winning their third straight game overall and 10th in their last 11 games, the Knights (29-19, 8-3 AAC) also extended their win streak against the Bulls to 10 straight games dating back to UCF's 4-3 win over South Florida May 8, 2021.
"Dominant pitching, routine defense and timely hitting," said head coach Cindy Ball-Malone of the Knights' latest win. "We want to spread the difference of our runs, but being able to stay under control, Jas at the plate to be able to turn the game around for us and to add some insurance runs on top of that was awesome. We like to see how the three pitchers pitched well together and complemented each other, and the defense behind them was awesome."
In writing the latest chapter of her breakout junior season, Jewell was dominant in her first start against South Florida, throwing five innings of one-run ball before giving way to her bullpen in the sixth inning.
The right-hander turned in her third straight start of at least five innings, as well as her eighth appearance this season with at least five innings pitched while yielding one or fewer runs. Like Willis Friday evening, Jewell began her day with a pair of strikeouts in a scoreless first inning.
She authored a perfect second and worked around a two-out single in the third before again retiring the side in order in the fourth inning.
Bulls designated player Lydia Castro finally solved the Knights starter in the fifth, lining a one-out solo homer that hit off the top of the left field wall and bounced over, but Jewell limited the damage to one run with a flyout and a groundout to escape the inning.
"What was working for me was just getting ahead of the hitters," Jewell said. "USF is a very aggressive team, so I knew that I just had to throw my stuff and I didn't have to do too much, just like every other game. [I was just trying to] use my defense."
In her five innings, she allowed only a trio of hits, marking her sixth appearance this season with at least five innings pitched and three or fewer hits allowed, and her first since her April 1 complete-game shutout at ECU.
Following her 25th appearance and 17th start of the campaign, Jewell lowered her season-low ERA to 2.37, having thrown a career-high 103.1 innings and racking up a season-high 61 punchouts. Her .184 batting average-against is also an even 100 points lower than her 2022 mark of .284.
Ball-Malone turned to southpaw Angelina DeVoe in relief after Jewell yielded a leadoff walk in the sixth inning, and DeVoe escaped the jam with a trio of ground balls in her fourth consecutive scoreless appearance.
Right-hander Kaitlyn Felton slammed the door in the seventh, tallying her second save of the season in her first appearance since throwing 3.2 scoreless frames in relief during the Knights' 13-1 win over Tulsa April 16.
"They did their job, and that's been the biggest thing in the transition that I've needed to make an adjustment on is managing them, because they're all really good," Ball-Malone continued. "How to use them and when to use them, and they did a great job when called upon."
A trio of runs in the fourth inning was all Jewell, DeVoe and Felton needed to lead the Knights to their 29th win of the season. With two outs, UCF rallied on the strength of five consecutive hitters to reach base. Following a Savannah Adams single and a Micaela Macario walk, shortstop Jasmine Williams extended her career-long hit streak to seven straight games with an RBI single to center field, breaking the ice and giving the Knights a 1-0 lead.
Freshman outfielder Olivia Elliott made a pinch-hit appearance and reached on a Bulls fielding error, and junior utility player Kennedy Searcy took advantage of the Knights' new life with a bloop double to left field to drive in two more.
"We were in scoring position, and I knew that I had to do my job and get the runners in," Searcy said. "I always take a peek at the defense, and I realized they weren't playing too far in on me this time, they backed up a little bit. I knew I didn't have to do too much at the plate, I just had to tap a little bit. That's what I did, and I did the job."
UP NEXT
The Knights will go for the series sweep of the Bulls Sunday afternoon, with first pitch from the UCF Softball Complex slated for 12 p.m. A win would not only clinch a sweep of UCF's western rivals, but would also mark the 800th in program history.