Softball to Face Iowa State in Final Regular-Season SeriesSoftball to Face Iowa State in Final Regular-Season Series

Softball to Face Iowa State in Final Regular-Season Series

by Ryan Ladika

ORLANDO – As the spring 2024 regular season draws to a close, the UCF softball team is set for its final opportunity to build momentum entering the Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Championship, as the squad will make the trip to Ames, Iowa, for a three-game series against the Iowa State Cyclones.

With a series win against the Cyclones this weekend, UCF would eclipse the 30-win mark for the fourth straight year and the fifth time in head coach Cindy Ball-Malone’s six seasons at the helm of the Knights, with the COVID-19-shortened 2020 campaign representing the lone exception during which UCF went 21-5-1 prior to the season’s cancellation.

The Black and Gold most recently battled through the final home series of the campaign with the three-time defending national champion, and second-ranked, Oklahoma Sooners. Though UCF suffered a sweep at the hands of the Sooners, its seniors paved the way for a handful of inspiring on-field performances throughout their final three games on their home turf.

Senior right fielder Chloe Evans led the charge offensively throughout UCF’s four games last week, producing an aggregate .385/.385/.923 (5-for-13) line with one double, two home runs, five RBI and 12 total bases against Bethune-Cookman and Oklahoma. Against the Sooners, Evans hit .364 (4-for-11) with one double, two homers, four RBI and 11 total bases.

She kicked off her strong series with a 2-for-4 showing in the opener, driving in both UCF runs Friday night by way of a line drive double down the right field line and a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh inning. In Sunday’s finale, she provided an early offensive jolt with the first of UCF’s three home runs, a two-run blast inside the right field foul pole that gave the Knights a 2-0 first-inning lead.

Graduate transfer Sona Halajian also provided key offensive production throughout the weekend series, hitting an RBI double in the bottom of the seventh inning Saturday afternoon before slugging the second of UCF’s three Sunday homers in the second inning, also a two-run shot.

Dating back to last season’s 2023 NCAA Norman Regional, when Halajian faced the Sooners as a member of the California Golden Bears, the San Anselmo, California, native has hit .429 (3-for-7) with one home run, one double, one run scored and five RBI in her last four games against Oklahoma.

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Jasmine Williams and Shannon Doherty both came through with key offensive showings in Sunday’s finale as well, with the former tallying a 2-for-3 effort with a fourth-inning RBI double off Kelly Maxwell, and the latter slugging her fourth home run of the season in what could possibly be the last home at-bat of her collegiate career in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Doherty’s seventh-inning solo shot, in addition to giving the Black and Gold their second game this season with at least three home runs, also brought the fifth-year senior into a tie with Jania Shinhoster (2002-05) for third place on the UCF all-time career home runs list with the 33rd of her career.

Senior right-hander Sarah Willis provided a dominant outing in the circle in game two of the series as well, yielding only two runs on two hits in a seven-inning complete game, representing her eighth complete game of the season and the 18th of her career, all of which have come since she joined UCF prior to the 2023 season.

With her seven-inning gem, Willis held the Sooners to their fewest single-game hit total since April 11, 2023, and she also became the first pitcher of any NCAA squad since April 16, 2022 to throw a seven-inning complete game with two or fewer hits allowed against Oklahoma.

When the Knights face Iowa State in the teams’ weekend series, UCF will look to build upon an all-time 4-1 record against the Cyclones in the programs’ previous five meetings. The two squads most recently met during UCF’s seven-game road trip through California March 8-13, 2022, earning a 7-5 win in Fullerton, California, March 12.

UCF plated five runs in the first two innings against Iowa State in the contest, on the strength of a first-inning two-run blast by Jada Cody and a second-inning RBI single by Doherty. Cody, Doherty and Kennedy Searcy each recorded multi-hit displays in the Knights’ two-run win, with Searcy later slugging her team’s second homer of the game in the sixth inning.

Iowa State enters the series with an 18-28 overall record in its first 46 games, including a 5-16 mark in Big 12 Conference play. The squad has suffered back-to-back series sweeps against No. 1 Texas and BYU, but previously took two of its three contests against the then-No. 5 Oklahoma State Cowgirls in Ames April 12-14.

Sophomore infielder provided both RBI in Iowa State’s 2-0 win over the Cowgirls March 12, including a fifth-inning solo home run, in support of the combined shutout effort provided by Lauren Schurman and Jaiden Ralston, who teamed up to allow just five hits and no walks with a trio of strikeouts in their spotless showing.

The Cyclones rallied for a series win over their top five-ranked foe the next day, erasing a 2-1 Cowgirl lead with four runs between the sixth and seventh innings to earn a 5-2 victory. Iowa State hit a pair of homers in the contest, including a first-inning solo shot by senior outfielder Milaysia Ochoa and a walk-off three-run blast in the bottom of the seventh inning by senior catcher Camille Marin.

Junior infielder Angelina Allen represents the team’s leading hitter entering the series, boasting a .435 mark (67-for-154) in her 46 starts, accompanied by a .491 on-base percentage, .766 slugging percentage, 18 doubles, 11 home runs, 118 total bases and 40 RBI.

In the circle, Karlie Charles has shouldered the most innings among the Cyclones’ six hurlers, posting a 4.49 ERA in 76.1 innings of work with 35 strikeouts.

First pitch times for the series are scheduled for 5 p.m. ET Friday evening, 2 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon and 1 p.m. ET in Sunday’s finale. All three games will be streamed live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.

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