TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – After pulling out a convincing five-run victory over the No. 20 South Carolina Gamecocks to open 2023 NCAA Regional play, the (RV) UCF softball team saw its season come to an end Saturday evening with a pair of losses, 5-1 and 10-1, to the No. 3 Florida State Seminoles and South Carolina, respectively, at Seminole Softball Complex.
"Not the way we wanted it to end, but I think the amount of adversity we had gone through this entire year, I'm just incredibly proud of how our team continued to fight through that and how we battled," said head coach Cindy Ball-Malone.
The Knights, drawing a matchup with a team ranked in the nation's top three for the fourth time this season in Saturday's opener, were up to the task against the Seminoles behind right-handed starter Sarah Willis.
The reigning American Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year tossed a trio of perfect innings to begin her afternoon, bolstered by an early Knights run in the bottom of the third inning courtesy of a single by right fielder Chloe Evans.
The run-scoring hit marked the second time in as many days to begin regional play that UCF cracked the scoreboard first, and pushed Evans' RBI total to four between the Knights' first two postseason games. The Seymour, Wisconsin, native would finish the weekend with a standout 6-for-11 showing, including four RBI, one run scored, one double and one triple.
The tally was all the Knights could muster, though, against stingy Seminoles starter Kathryn Sandercock, and Florida State would rally for five unanswered runs in the final four innings despite being out-hit by UCF 9-4.
Sophomore right-hander Kaitlyn Felton received the nod from Ball-Malone in the nightcap for UCF's second tilt against South Carolina, and the Valrico, Florida, native again produced a strong start in the circle, yielding just three runs, two of them earned, on four hits in 4.1 innings.
The Knights were unable to gain traction at the plate, though, scoring their lone run in the seventh inning on an Olivia Elliott sacrifice fly to plate Aubrey Evans.
"I think we were battle-tested in the beginning of the season, and it definitely built what this team had. I think we have a lot of growing to do, but I'm excited for this," said utility player Jada Cody. "Next year, we won't be the younger team anymore. We have a lot of juniors this year, so next year it's going to be personal. [Next year], we're going to leave all that we have on the field and take this program to a different level."
