ORLANDO – As the program has in both of the last two seasons, the UCF softball team will once again return to California during the spring campaign, taking part in the 2024 Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic hosted by the Big League Dreams Complex in Cathedral City Feb. 22-24.
UCF will participate in the tournament for the first time since the 2017 campaign, when the Knights went 1-1 against Cal Poly and then-No. 8 UCLA and saw their final two games against Cal and Loyola Marymount canceled.
During the 2024 iteration of the Mary Nutter, the Knights will play three consecutive twin-bills Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening, with their tournament action beginning against a familiar foe in Mississippi State Feb. 22 at 5 p.m. ET.
The Knights met the Bulldogs for UCF’s 2023 TaxAct Clearwater Invitational finale Feb. 19, a back-and-forth affair that saw UCF prevail by a 6-5 final score thanks in part to a Shannon Doherty go-ahead RBI single that plated pinch-hitter Katie Burge in the bottom of the sixth inning. The winning effort gave the Knights their first win in program history over Mississippi State, moving to 1-1 in two all-time meetings.
UCF will conclude its first day of participation with a nightcap against an Oregon Ducks team that finished the 2023 season ranked No. 15 in the final USA Today/NFCA rankings following a 38-17 season and a trip to the NCAA Stillwater Super Regional.
We're coming back to California! We've got some 𝗕𝗜𝗚 matchups planned for the @NutterClassic in February! pic.twitter.com/3W7LeugQcf
— UCF Softball (@UCF_Softball) September 25, 2023
The Knights’ matchup against Oregon will represent the first meeting between the two schools in program history. UCF’s incumbent starting shortstop Jasmine Williams began her collegiate career with the Ducks, hitting for a combined .275/.324/.439 (79-for-287) with 31 extra-base hits and 54 RBI in 109 games spanning three seasons in Eugene before transferring to Orlando during the summer of 2022.
The Knights’ second day of competition in California will consist of a pair of matchups against the Missouri Tigers and the Oregon State Beavers. Like Mississippi State, UCF also squared off against Missouri during the 2023 season, falling in a close 11-8 affair Feb. 14 that saw four Knights combine for five home runs, including a multi-homer evening by Sarah Willis and long balls from Shannon Doherty, Chloe Evans and Jada Cody.
In Oregon State, the Knights will meet a program they’ve faced only once in program history, a 2-1 defeat during the San Diego State University Tournament Feb. 19, 2012.
UCF will then conclude play in the Mary Nutter Feb. 24 with a pair of contests against the Tennessee Lady Volunteers and the San Diego Toreros. The Lady Vols enjoyed a dominant 2023 campaign that saw the team produce a 51-10 record and advance as far as the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City. The squad finished the year ranked No. 3 in the nation in the final USA Today/NFCA poll, behind eventual-National Champion Oklahoma and the runner-up Florida State Seminoles.
UCF will look to improve upon a 4-3 all-time record against the Lady Vols, as the Knights have won three of the last four meetings with Tennessee since the 2010 season. The 2024 matchup will also continue a pattern of neutral site matchups between the two programs, as six of the seven previous meetings between the two schools have occurred away from either school’s home field.
UCF’s tilt against San Diego to conclude the Knights’ participation in the tournament will, like Oregon, represent the first contest between the two programs as well.
COMPLETE UCF 2024 MARY NUTTER COLLEGIATE CLASSIC SCHEDULE
Feb. 22 - vs. Mississippi State (5 p.m. ET)
Feb. 22 - vs. Oregon (8 p.m. ET)
Feb. 23 - vs. Missouri (8:30 p.m. ET)
Feb. 23 - vs. Oregon State (11:30 p.m. ET)
Feb. 24 - vs. Tennessee (8 p.m. ET)
Feb. 24 - vs. San Diego (10:30 p.m. ET)