ORLANDO – As far as debuts into rivalry series go, Chloe Evans and Sarah Willis couldn't have done much better.
In leading the UCF softball team to its 2-1 walk-off win over the rival South Florida Bulls Friday night, the former recorded both RBI, including the eighth-inning game-winner, and the latter twirled an eight-inning masterpiece that kept her team in the game throughout the evening in the first appearances in the War on I-4 series by both players.
The win moved the Knights (28-19, 7-3 AAC) into sole possession of second place in the American Athletic Conference behind the No. 22 Wichita State Shockers, who also earned a Friday win to move to 11-2 within The American. UCF also handed the Bulls (27-20, 6-4) their second consecutive walk-off defeat after South Florida fell to No. 13 Florida Wednesday evening on a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the seventh inning.
The Knights' walk-off win marked the team's first in extra innings this season as well, moving to 1-2 beyond seven innings in 2023 after UCF suffered a pair of walk-off defeats to No. 16 Duke (10 innings) and No. 12 Alabama (8 innings) during the TaxAct Clearwater Invitational Feb. 18. It also represented the Knights' third walk-off win of the season, following UCF's 9-8 win over the then-RV Boise State Broncos Feb. 10 and the Knights' 3-2 victory over North Florida March 29.
"It's super important, obviously in conference play we're in it to win it," Evans said of the series-opening win. "I think that we just have to keep going at every single team no matter what. Getting these close wins, pulling away with big wins, it doesn't matter. A win is a win and I think that's what we have to keep going with."
With the win, UCF also extended its win streak over the Bulls to nine consecutive games dating back to the Knights' 4-3 win over South Florida May 8, 2021.
Willis, already having thrown seven innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts, trotted back to the circle looking for three more outs in the top of the eighth after neither the Knights nor Bulls could break their 1-1 tie in the regulation seven innings.
The Ontario, California, native quickly dispatched of the Bulls in the eighth, retiring the side in order via a trio of groundouts. The perfect frame represented a microcosm of how Willis only grew stronger as the game wore on.
After surrendering the game's first tally in the top of the second, Willis stranded Bulls baserunners at third base in both of the next two innings, retiring 15 of the final 17 hitters she faced in the process.
"It was really just like any other game that we've had in conference, except for the War on I-4 rivalry," Willis said. "Just going out there, having my best stuff, letting the team work with the defense and having those clutch hits. It was a pitchers' duel, for sure."
Since the Knights' Feb. 23 doubleheader against Gardner-Webb, Willis has served as the team's most consistent starter, posting a team-best 1.21 ERA (75.1 IP, 13 ER) with 72 strikeouts against just 27 walks while limiting her opposition to a .171 batting average-against.
"She's putting the momentum in our hands, but I also think our offense is allowing our pitchers to throw their game," head coach Cindy Ball-Malone said. "Our defense is really doing some things, Carson [Frier] is settling in back there behind the plate and our offense is taking some pressure off of them."
Sparked by a leadoff double by third baseman Jada Cody, the 39th of her career that pushed the utility player into sole possession of sixth place on the UCF all-time doubles list, the two Evans handled the rest.
Aubrey Evans advanced Cody to third on a groundout to Bulls pitcher Gabriella Nori, and Chloe, after tying the game at one run apiece with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth, dropped a base hit into right field to lift UCF to its 28th win of the season.
The base hit extended Chloe Evans' active hit streak to a career-long-tying seven straight games, during which the right fielder is hitting a team-best .520/.536/.920 (13-for-25) with six extra-base hits (three doubles, two triples and one home run), 12 RBI and 23 total bases. She has driven in at least one run each of her last seven games, including multiple runs in three games during that span.
It also marked the Seymour, Wisconsin, native's second walk-off hit of the season, and the first since her walk-off two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning against Boise State in UCF's third game of the season Feb. 10.
UP NEXT
UCF will go for the series win over the Bulls Saturday afternoon, with first pitch from the UCF Softball Complex moved up to 1 p.m. from its previously-scheduled 4 p.m. time in anticipation of inclement weather.
