ORLANDO – Riding a 4-1 start in the weekend’s season-opening Black and Gold Classic, the UCF softball team is set to conclude its first homestand of the season with a Wednesday evening matchup against the visiting Liberty Flames.
The weekend effort was teeming with dominant performances both in the circle and at the plate by the Knights and featured the team’s first 3-0 start to a season since the COVID-19-shortened 2020 spring campaign. UCF earned wins over the Howard Bison, Georgia State Panthers and Seattle Redhawks while splitting two games with the 2023 Big East regular season champion UConn Huskies.
Right-hander Sarah Willis, the winner of 2023 American Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year honors, and southpaw Angelina DeVoe spearheaded the Knights’ pitching exploits, tossing 8.2 and 8 innings, respectively, while combining to allow just one run on three hits with 19 strikeouts.
DeVoe is enjoying the best start to a season in her now-four-year collegiate career, having thrown eight perfect innings accompanied by six strikeouts in her two appearances against Howard and UConn. Willis’ 13 strikeouts, meanwhile, rank second-most in the Big 12 Conference and 58th in the nation following the first weekend of play.
Junior right-hander Kaitlyn Felton also produced a strong season debut in leading the Knights to their first shutout win of the season against Seattle Feb. 9. The Valrico, Florida, native spun 6.1 scoreless frames with four strikeouts before giving way to transfer lefty Ava Justman, who locked down her first collegiate save in relief.
Offensively, infielder Aubrey Evans and center fielder Johneisha Rowe led the charge for the Knights throughout the weekend’s action, with both producing a team-best .462 average in five starts. Rowe recorded a three-hit season-opener against Howard that also saw her come around to score all three times, and Evans has hit safely in each of her first five games this spring.
UCF also slugged its first four home runs of the spring, coming off the bats of Stormy Kotzelnick, Kennedy Searcy, Jada Cody and Chloe Evans. Cody moved into a tie for second-most with Jania Shinhoster on the UCF all-time career home run list with her 33rd career long ball, while Searcy’s factored into a strong offensive weekend that boosted her RBI total to a team-best seven after five games of action.
The Knights as a unit have also made their presence more than known on the basepaths, swiping a Big 12 Conference-leading 10 bags on the strength of a season-opener that saw UCF steal seven bases, its highest single-game total since the team also stole seven bases at Stetson March 6, 2019.
In Liberty (1-4), the Knights will meet a Flames squad that enjoyed a 40-22 record a year ago, highlighted by knocking the then-No. 2 UCLA Bruins out of the NCAA Los Angeles Regional with a 2-1 upset win May 20. The Flames also recorded ranked wins over then-No. 13 Alabama, No. 24 Central Arkansas and No. 6 Clemson in 2023.
The Knights have faced Liberty six times prior to Wednesday’s matchup, having earned the win in all six contests. The teams’ last matchup came two seasons ago, also in a midweek matchup following the Knights’ season-opening Black and Gold Classic in 2022. UCF earned a 3-0 win on the strength of a two-RBI day by Cody, coming via a two-run double in the fourth inning.
Junior outfielder Rachel Roupe, the first Conference USA Player of the Week winner of the new slate, leads the Liberty offense to Orlando after hitting .714 (10-for-14) with one triple, two home runs, four RBI, three runs scored and one walk in five games, including starts against the likes of No. 13 Oregon, No. 5 Clemson, No. 11 Missouri and Notre Dame.
Elena Escobar and Tyler Oubre have paved the way in the circle, meanwhile, combining for 16 innings of work with just three earned runs allowed and 12 strikeouts. Escobar’s 0.78 ERA in nine innings spanning two appearances ranks second-best in the conference, and her nine strikeouts are tied with teammate Kaylan Yoder for third-most in Conference USA.
First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. from the UCF Softball Complex, and will be streamed on ESPN+.
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