ORLANDO – The Big 12 Conference announced UCF softball’s inaugural schedule set for the upcoming spring 2024 season Thursday afternoon, a slate that includes nine conference series for the Knights.
UCF will host four series in Orlando, headlined by marquee home matchups against the three-time defending National Champion Oklahoma Sooners and a Texas Longhorns squad that has made six Women’s College World Series appearances in program history. The Knights will also welcome the Kansas Jayhawks and BYU Cougars to the UCF Softball Complex next spring.
In addition to its four home series, UCF is set for five conference series on the road, featuring trips to visit the Oklahoma State Cowgirls, Texas Tech Red Raiders, Houston Cougars, Baylor Bears and Iowa State Cyclones.
In partaking in Big 12 Conference play for the first time in program history, the Knights will face off against programs that, in 2023, combined for a 20-6 record in NCAA Tournament play spanning the opening NCAA Regional round and beyond, a national championship, two Women’s College World Series appearances, three Super Regional Appearances and four Regional appearances.
Four of UCF’s nine conference opponents were selected for appearances in the NCAA Tournament last season, including the Sooners, Cowgirls, Longhorns and Bears, and the BYU Cougars also took part in postseason play in the National Invitational Softball Championship in May, as well.
vs. Kansas Jayhawks | March 8-10, 2024
The Knights will commence conference play the weekend of March 8-10 with a home matchup against the Kansas Jayhawks. Kansas compiled a 25-27 record in 2023, headlined by an 8-7 upset victory over then-No. 8 Oklahoma State that eliminated the Cowgirls from the Big 12 Championship in the first round May 12.
The Jayhawks in late February also bested a Liberty Flames squad that ended the season with a 40-22 record and aided in eliminating the No. 2 UCLA Bruins in the NCAA Los Angeles Regional.
Kansas enters the 2024 spring slate returning last season’s leading hitter and rising senior catcher Lyric Moore, who in 51 games a year ago slashed .303/.363/.528 with 20 extra-base hits, an .891 OPS and 24 RBI. Right-hander Lizzy Ludwig also returns after posting a team-best 2.72 ERA in 67 innings of work in 2023 as well.
The series will represent the fifth, sixth and seventh meetings between the two schools, with the all-time series tied at two wins apiece.
at Oklahoma State Cowgirls | March 15-17, 2024
The Knights will make the trip to Stillwater, Oklahoma, for a second consecutive season after taking part in the 2023 OSU Mizuno Classic against then-No. 22 Arizona State and the host No. 2 Cowgirls last spring. The tournament featured then-junior right-hander Grace Jewell’s first career no-hitter against the Sun Devils, an effort that also marked the first no-hitter against a top 25 nationally-ranked opponent in program history.
Ranked No. 6 in the final 2023 USA Today/NFCA poll, the Cowgirls in 2023 advanced as far as the Women’s College World Series after sweeping all five games in the Stillwater Regional and Super Regional against UMBC, Wichita State, Nebraska and Oregon. The team ranked among Big 12 leaders in many statistical categories last season, including doubles (110, 2nd Big 12, 3rd NCAA), ERA (2.11, 2nd, 20th), shutouts (23, 2nd, 3rd), on-base percentage (.411, 2nd, 10th) and team batting average (.324, 3rd, 9th).
Graduate student pitcher Lexi Kilfoyl paced the team with a 1.70 ERA in 139.2 innings pitched, a mark that ranked fourth-best in the conference behind a trio of Oklahoma arms, and sophomore utility player Tallen Edwards’ .328 average (57-for-174) from 2023 is the highest mark among returners at the plate.
vs. Texas Longhorns | March 22-24, 2024
After their three-game trip to Stillwater, UCF will return home for a three-game series against the Texas Longhorns, who finished the 2023 season ranked No. 11 in the final 2023 USA Today/NFCA rankings. With a 45-15-1 record a season ago, Texas advanced as far as the NCAA Super Regionals but were eliminated with back-to-back losses to Tennessee.
The Knights and Longhorns have met just once before in the history of either program, which came during the 2022 Clearwater Invitational in Clearwater, Florida. The Knights emerged victorious by a 15-10 decision in a contest that featured 21 combined hits, as well as a seven-run sixth inning authored by UCF.
Redshirt-sophomore outfielder Ashton Maloney returns to Texas after leading the squad in average a season ago with a .382 mark (58-for-152), and junior right-hander Mac Morgan represents the lowest returning ERA from 2023 with a 2.50 mark in 145.2 innings pitched.
at Texas Tech Red Raiders | March 28-30, 2024
The Knights close out the month of March with a trip to Lubbock, Texas to take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Like Texas, UCF’s last meeting with the Red Raiders came in the 2022 Clearwater Invitational. After battling to a 3-3 stalemate after seven innings, the Knights plated four runs in the top of the eighth inning to pull out a 7-3 win, which also gave UCF a 4-3 lead in the all-time series.
Texas Tech last season produced a 31-22 record and saw its season come to an end in the first round of the Big 12 Championship May 11, when it fell in eight innings to Texas by a 7-6 final score. Sophomore catcher/outfielder Kailey Wyckoff returns after leading the team with a .393 average (59-for-150) last season, and the team also returns its 2023 ERA leader in junior Sage Hoover, who posted a 2.45 mark in an even 100 innings accompanied by 101 strikeouts.
vs. BYU Cougars | April 4-6, 2024
UCF opens the month of April with a three-game set against the BYU Cougars, a squad that put together a strong 35-17 record in 2023 and completed its season with a 3-1 showing in the National Invitational Softball Championship. The series will represent the first three meetings between the two schools in program history.
The team led the WCC in batting average (.292), doubles (69), fielding percentage (.975), home runs per game (1.04), on-base percentage (.379), slugging percentage (.478) and runs per game (5.40) last season, and returns its leading hitter in Ailana Agbayani (.337, 59-for-175). The Cougars’ leading pitcher by ERA, Kaysen Korth, also returns to Provo in 2024 after recording a 2.49 mark in a team-leading 174 innings, accompanied by a team-best 189 strikeouts.
at Houston Cougars | April 12-14, 2024
The Knights will face a familiar foe in the Houston Cougars next season, as the program made the jump to the Big 12 from the American Athletic Conference alongside UCF in July. UCF enjoyed success against Houston in 2023, sweeping a three-game series in Orlando that featured the first seven-inning perfect game in program history thrown by then-junior right-hander Sarah Willis.
After the three-game sweep of the Cougars, the Knights bring a 32-22 all-time record against Houston into the 2024 season. The Cougars in 2023 posted a 20-30 record and saw their season come to an end against the fourth-seeded Tulsa Golden Hurricane in the American Athletic Conference Tournament Quarterfinals. The Knights would later top Tulsa by a 9-1 run-rule final score to claim the tournament championship.
at Baylor Bears | April 19-21, 2024
UCF will conclude its swing through Texas with three games in Waco against the Baylor Bears. Baylor, which advanced as far as the NCAA Salt Lake City Regional in 2023, was the lone team to put a blemish on the eventual-National Champion Oklahoma Sooners’ record, topping the Sooners by a 4-3 final score in the Getterman Classic Feb. 19.
The meetings will represent the first between the two schools since March 19, 2017, when UCF claimed a 4-2 win to conclude a three-game set in Orlando.
The Bears, ranked No. 22 in the final 2023 USA Today/NFCA poll, saw their season end in Salt Lake after producing a 40-18 final record, led by sophomore infielder Shaylon Govan’s .369 average (52-for-141) and junior pitcher Dariana Orme’s 1.92 ERA and 126 strikeouts in 149.2 innings of work.
vs. Oklahoma Sooners | April 26-28, 2024
Representing one of the biggest home matchups in program history, the Knights will conclude their home conference slate by hosting the three-time defending National Champion Oklahoma Sooners.
The unanimous No. 1 team in the final 2023 USA Today/NFCA rankings, Oklahoma tore through its 2023 schedule, recording a 61-1 final record and an NCAA Division I record 53-game win streak en route to its third consecutive national championship in June.
The Sooners hosted both the NCAA Regional and Super Regional at Marita Hynes Field in Norman, Oklahoma, sweeping all five games against Clemson, Hofstra, Missouri and California, before emerging victorious in all five games in which they played in the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City against Stanford, Tennessee and Florida State.
Oklahoma boasted the nation’s top catcher in Kinzie Hansen, who won the Johnny Bench award for the honor and the NFCA’s Coaching Staff of the Year, as well as four major Big 12 Conference Awards: Big 12 Player of the Year (Jayda Coleman), Big 12 Pitcher of the Year (Jordy Bahl), Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year (Grace Lyons), and Big 12 Co-Coach of the Year (Patty Gasso).
The Knights will meet the Sooners for the first time since the 2022 Norman Super Regional, when Oklahoma bested UCF in two games to end the Knights’ first Super Regional appearance in program history.
at Iowa State Cyclones | May 3-5, 2024
After wrapping up the program’s inaugural Big 12 home slate, the team will conclude Big 12 play on the road in Ames, Iowa against the Iowa State Cyclones. The Cyclones compiled a 25-30 overall record a season ago, and managed an upset victory over the Baylor Bears in the first round of the Big 12 Championship before falling to the Sooners in five innings in the second round.
UCF owns an overall 4-1 record against Iowa State in five all-time meetings, including an active four-game win streak since the 2017 season.
Leading hitter Milaysia Ochoa, a senior outfielder, returns to the 2024 squad after posting a .319/.406/.614 slashline in 55 games last season, and senior right-hander Karlie Charles, who recorded a team-best 3.35 ERA in 60.2 innings of work, also returns to Ames for the upcoming season.
The Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Championship is scheduled for May 8-11, and will be hosted at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium – OGE Energy Field in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.