ORLANDO – She wasn't perfect, but she did more than enough.
In her encore after tossing the first seven-inning perfect game in program history Friday evening, junior right-hander Sarah Willis continued her incredible run in the circle with her second seven-inning complete-game shutout of the series Sunday afternoon, leading the UCF softball team to a sweep-clinching 4-0 win over the Houston Cougars in the Knights' final home game of the 2023 season.
With an emotional Senior Day as the backdrop during which the Knights (33-19, 12-3 AAC) honored outfielder Allyse Volpe, student manager Kelsi Jeffries and training staff members Spencer Bala and Muteba Dikanda, Willis spun a two-hitter, marking her team-best seventh complete game of the season and fourth shutout, and pushing her scoreless innings streak to 26 in a row dating back to the third inning of the Knights' 2-1 eight-inning victory over South Florida April 21.
The right-hander only strengthened her lead in conference ERA within the American as well, now boasting a miniscule 0.67 mark (52 IP, 5 ER) through her first 10 appearances (nine starts) in conference play. Her overall 1.69 ERA (111.2 IP, 27 ER) remains the best mark on the team, and ranks third-best in The American, trailing only South Florida's Payton Dixon (1.44) and No. 19 Wichita State's Alex Aguilar (1.54).
"I was just going to come out like I did on Friday, throw good pitches in good spots because they've already seen me a few times," Willis said. "Just coming out and throwing my game, rolling my defense ground balls and pop flies, and just making it easiest on myself."
Willis tossed her eighth consecutive perfect inning in the top of the first frame, inducing a pair of groundouts to shortstop Jasmine Williams before right fielder Chloe Evans made an impressive catch for the third out.
The right-hander worked around leadoff walks in the second and third innings, having retired eight of the first 11 hitters she faced to begin her afternoon. By the time Houston (19-27, 6-9 AAC) found the hit column for the first time to lead off the top of the fifth, Willis had faced 41 consecutive hitters between the last two hits she allowed.
Since Willis' utterly dominant stretch began during the Knights' Feb. 23 doubleheader against Gardner-Webb, the Ontario, California, native has produced an overall ERA of 0.95 in her last 95.1 innings spanning 22 appearances, yielding only 13 earned runs and 35 walks while racking up 83 strikeouts and limiting her opposition to a .153 batting average-against.
"As the season's gone on, from preseason to the start of conference and then pitching two games in a weekend, I've gotten better with my consistency," Willis continued. "And then being able to pitch to a team twice and showing them the same stuff that they've seen, but making it more effective, so I can let my defense work."
Chloe Evans kicked off the bottom of the first inning with a bang, providing the only run Willis would need on the strength of her seventh triple of the season that plated Aubrey Evans who had hit a wind-assisted double to left field just moments prior.
Chloe's three-bagger pushed her into a tie for second on the all-time UCF single-season triples list with Tiffany Lane, and the Seymour, Wisconsin native now needs just one more to tie Lane for the most in a single season in program history.
Aubrey, meanwhile, moved into a share of second place on the all-time UCF single-season doubles list with her team-leading 15th two-bagger of the year, two ahead of Chloe's 13.
"It's super huge. I've never really been super big into hitting triples, but I think this year it's just about pushing the defense, taking those extra bases, even if I'm risking that base," Chloe said. "When I'm scoring runs in that situation too, those runs are in safe, so it's just trying to push the defense, knowing that if I'm hitting the ball to right field, they have to make two perfect throws get it to third base to get me out."
Left fielder Kennedy Searcy continued her tear through Houston pitching Sunday afternoon as well, coming through with a two-run single in the fourth inning that scored pinch-runner Nehanda Lewis and second baseman Micaela Macario and inflated the Knights' lead to 3-0.
Her timely single extended her hit streak to eight consecutive games on the heels of her back-to-back three-hit games in the first two contests of the weekend series, and the junior finished her weekend with an eye-popping .636/.636/.727 (7-for-11) line, accompanied by one double, four RBI and eight total bases.
The winning effort for UCF marked the team's 14th victory in its last 15 games dating back to its March 29 victory over North Florida, a span during which Willis, Grace Jewell, Angelina DeVoe and Kaitlyn Felton have combined to post a 1.18 ERA (100.2 IP, 17 ER) with 65 strikeouts and a .159 batting average-against while yielding two or fewer runs in each of the 14 wins.
"The team as a whole played really well today and the whole weekend. Sarah pitched the best I've seen her throw, and she's thrown some really good games throughout the year. But she's just really locked in and dialed in. I'm excited for what this team has done and how strong they keep getting, game-by-game."
UP NEXT
The Knights will conclude their regular season on the road next weekend, taking on the Memphis Tigers in a three-game set May 5-7 at Tigers Softball Complex. First pitch in the Friday series-opener from Memphis is slated for 7 p.m. ET.
