ORLANDO – When the UCF softball team takes the field for its next contest, the Knights will do so already holding a four-run advantage.
On the heels of the squad’s three-game series against Baylor in Waco, Texas, UCF returns home to kick off the final homestand of the 2024 spring campaign, beginning with a Wednesday midweek doubleheader against the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats followed by the final home conference series of the year against the three-time defending national champion and second-ranked Oklahoma Sooners.
The Knights’ Wednesday twin-bill with Bethune-Cookman was created out of the teams’ matchup from March 3, the finale of UCF’s Knights Classic tournament that was suspended in the bottom of the second inning due to inclement weather.
Following the second delay of the afternoon for lightning in the area, the game was halted in the bottom of the second and rescheduled for April 24, with the two programs also adding a second game to create the doubleheader.
When the game was suspended, UCF held a 4-0 lead in the home half of the second inning on the strength of a three-run home run by Ashleigh Griffin coupled with an RBI single courtesy of Sarah Willis.
27's first long ball of the season spots us three in the first! pic.twitter.com/qc2J5wOGP4
— UCF Softball (@UCF_Softball) March 3, 2024
The offensive momentum with which the Black and Gold will resume Wednesday’s rescheduled game will serve as a welcome boost following a week that saw the Knights go 1-3 against the Florida Atlantic Owls and Baylor Bears.
After the program pushed its season-long win streak to 10 straight games with its 1-0 win over the Owls April 17, the Black and Gold dropped a trio of hard-fought one-run games in Waco over the weekend.
Right fielder Chloe Evans was responsible for the two runs scored by UCF in its last four games, plating the Knights’ first-inning run against Florida Atlantic with an RBI single up the middle and swatting her fifth home run of the season in the fourth inning of UCF’s series-opener at Baylor April 19.
Brand new ballgame. 💥@ch1oe_evans pic.twitter.com/AP0NJMiF0L
— UCF Softball (@UCF_Softball) April 20, 2024
The Seymour, Wisconsin, native pushed her team-leading RBI total to 31 with her game-tying fourth-inning solo shot Friday evening, and paced the team throughout the last week of play with a .300/.364/.600 (3-for-10) line accompanied by her six total bases.
Fifth-year senior utility player Jada Cody also continued her climb up the ranks within UCF softball lore over the last week, hitting the 51st double of her collegiate career in the first inning against the Owls and breaking Jania Shinhoster’s (2002-05) all-time career doubles record.
The Knights’ pitching staff, meanwhile, enjoyed a dominant four games, posting a 1.12 ERA (4 ER) in 25 innings of work, striking out 14 and limiting opposing hitters to an aggregate .167 batting average-against.
Right-hander Sarah Willis led the charge with 12 innings pitched including a pair of six-inning complete games in the series at Baylor, allowing just three runs in her 12 frames with eight strikeouts and a .159 batting average-against.
Junior right-hander Kaitlyn Felton impressed in the squad’s midweek contest against the Owls in Orlando as well, tossing at least seven innings for the third time this season in clinching UCF’s fifth shutout victory of the season. Felton totaled 8.1 innings between her two appearances, adding five strikeouts with a team-low .143 batting average-against.
Senior southpaw Angelina DeVoe and sophomore right-hander Katelyn Cochran also turned in strong outings in game two of the Knights’ series at Baylor over the weekend, combining to throw 4.2 scoreless innings with just four hits allowed in relief of Felton.