ORLANDO – Looking to build upon the program’s first span of three consecutive 40-win campaigns, the UCF softball team is set to begin its much-anticipated first season as a member of the Big 12 Conference.
The group will kick off the 2024 spring slate with its annual Black & Gold Classic tournament Feb. 8-11, hosted at the UCF Softball Complex. The Knights will square off against a quartet of non-conference foes throughout the weekend, including the Howard Bison, UConn Huskies, Seattle Redhawks and Georgia State Panthers.
UCF in 2023 produced a 40-21 campaign, resulting in not only the program’s third straight 40-plus-win season, but also its third consecutive NCAA Tournament berth and the 10th tournament appearance in program history.
The squad returns 403.1 of its total 404.1 innings in the circle from a season ago, spearheaded by reigning American Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year Sarah Willis and Third Team All-Region right-hander Grace Jewell. RHP/DP Sona Halajian and LHP Ava Justman will also look to make their mark early as two of head coach Cindy Ball-Malone’s three summer transfer portal signings.
Offensively, a 2024 roster that features 11 seniors includes the return of AAC First-Teamers Kennedy Searcy and Jada Cody, as well as Second Team selection Chloe Evans. Incumbent first baseman Shannon Doherty is also back for her final season, looking to punctuate a storied UCF career on a high note.
As the season gets underway, a handful of Knights will already be on milestone watch as well, led by Doherty’s chase to become the fourth player in program history with at least 30 home runs in a Knights uniform. The Coral Springs, Florida, native would reach the benchmark with her first long ball of the season, as she enters the new year with 29 to her name.
Cody enters the 2024 campaign just eight doubles shy of tying Jania Shinhoster’s (2002-05) career total of 50 for second place on the UCF all-time list, and with her first home run of the season, Cody would also tie Shinhoster’s 33 for second-most in a career in program history.
Ball-Malone brings a 284-196-2 career head coaching record into the new season as well, in need of just 16 wins to eclipse 300 in her career, and in need of 15 more to reach the 200 mark with UCF.
In UConn, Seattle, Georgia State and Howard, the Knights will meet two programs for the first time in the Bison and Redhawks. UCF has the most familiarity with the Huskies, its former American Athletic Conference mate, owning an 18-4 lifetime record against UConn, and the Knights have bested Georgia State eight times in the teams’ previous 11 meetings.
UConn, the 2023 winner of the Big East Conference with a 19-5 record in conference play, also represents one of six 2023 conference champions the Knights will square off against in 2023, joining Oklahoma (Big 12), Tennessee (SEC), Northwestern (Big Ten), UCLA (Pac-12) and Princeton (Ivy League).
The Huskies return three of their top four hitters by average in 2023 in Lexi Hastings, Grace Jenkins and Giuliana Abruscato. Hastings a season ago hit for a team-best .410/.509/.597 line with 14 extra-base hits, 27 RBI and 86 total bases.
Payton Kinney is also back for her senior season, on the heels of a junior year that saw the Bradenton, Florida, native produce a team-best 2.99 ERA in 105.1 innings of work accompanied by a .166 batting average-against and 114 strikeotus.
In Seattle, the Knights will meet the WAC’s 2023 leader in team batting average with a .324 mark that, as a squad, ranked 10th best in the nation. Junior outfielder Tai Wilson returns to the Redhawks lineup after producing a team-best .396 average with 15 extra-base hits in 56 games last season.
Like Seattle, Howard also led its conference, the MEAC, in average a year ago with a team .305 mark and ranked second in the conference with an on-base percentage of .360. The team’s top two 2023 hitters, Sidney Fletcher and Alyssa Vasquez, return to Howard’s lineup, and junior pitcher Mia Gonzales looks to build upon a 2023 season that saw her post a team-low 4.60 ERA.
The Panthers utilized their speed and baserunning prowess throughout the 2023 season, ranking third in the Sun Belt in stolen bases with 94, a total that was good for 31st in the nation. Junior pitcher Hallie Adams returns to the circle in 2024 for Georgia State after pacing the squad with a 4.38 ERA and 66 strikeouts in 96 innings of work.
COMPLETE TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Feb. 8
Howard vs. UConn – 2 p.m. | Live Stats
UCF vs. Howard – 4:30 p.m. | Live Stats | ESPN+
UCF vs. UConn – 7 p.m. | Live Stats | ESPN+
Feb. 9
Georgia State vs. Howard – 10 a.m. | Live Stats
Georgia State vs. UConn – 12:30 p.m. | Live Stats
Seattle vs. UConn – 3:30 p.m. | Live Stats
UCF vs. Seattle – 6 p.m. | Live Stats | ESPN+
Feb. 10
Howard vs. Seattle – 10 a.m. | Live Stats
Howard vs. Georgia State – 12:30 p.m. | Live Stats
Seattle vs. Georgia State – 3 p.m. | Live Stats
UCF vs. UConn – 5:30 p.m. | Live Stats | ESPN+
Feb. 11
UConn vs. Seattle – 9:30 a.m. | Live Stats
UCF vs. Georgia State – 12 p.m. | Live Stats | ESPN+
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