Softball Announces 2025 Big 12 Conference ScheduleSoftball Announces 2025 Big 12 Conference Schedule

Softball Announces 2025 Big 12 Conference Schedule

by Ryan Ladika
Opens in a new window 2025 UCF Softball Big 12 Schedule

ORLANDO – In accompaniment with the announcement made by the Big 12 Conference Tuesday afternoon, the UCF softball team has released its Big 12 schedule for the upcoming 2025 spring season.

In the new-look conference with the subtractions of Texas and Oklahoma, and additions of Arizona, Arizona State and Utah, the Knights will meet eight of the other 10 softball programs within the league. UCF’s 2025 conference schedule is as follows:

March 7-9: at Arizona

March 14-16: vs. Arizona State

March 20-22: vs. Iowa State

March 28-30: at Baylor

April 10-12: at BYU

April 17-19: vs. Oklahoma State

April 25-27: vs. Houston

May 2-4: at Kansas

After hosting four conference series and traveling for five in 2024, the Black and Gold will again host four conference foes this spring while also making four conference road trips. The Knights will square off against Iowa State, Baylor, BYU, Oklahoma State, Houston and Kansas for the second consecutive season and meet the Arizona Wildcats and Arizona State Sun Devils for the first time as conference foes.

UCF’s inaugural campaign in the conference a season ago saw the team post a 12-15 record within Big 12 play, highlighted by series wins over Kansas, Texas Tech, BYU, Houston and Iowa State. The Knights would later clinch their fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament berth, marking the first time in program history the team had qualified for postseason play in four straight seasons.

The Black and Gold’s 2025 conference slate includes three 2024 NCAA Tournament participants in Arizona, Baylor and Oklahoma State, all three of which advanced at least as far as the Super Regional round, with the Cowgirls advancing as far as the Women’s College World Series. Five of the Knights’ eight 2025 league opponents boasted a winning record last season overall.

March 7-9: at Arizona – Tucson, Ariz. 

The Wildcats represent one of three softball newcomers to the Big 12 this spring, fresh off a 37-18-1 showing and a berth in the NCAA Stillwater Super Regional in 2024. Arizona earned the 36th NCAA Tournament selection in program history and later advanced to the 17th Super Regional in program history.

Though the team’s run through the Pac-12 Tournament ended in the second round with a 6-5 loss to sixth-seeded UCLA, the Wildcats swept their way through the NCAA Fayetteville Regional with 14-3 and 9-4 wins over Villanova and a 2-1 victory over the host No. 12 Arkansas. The squad later dropped consecutive games to the Cowgirls and saw its season end in Stillwater.

Arizona represented one of the better programs in the nation on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball last season. The group paced the Pac-12 in batting average (.329), fielding percentage (.980), on-base percentage (.404) and runs scored per game (6.27), while ranking within the nation’s top 20 in fielding percentage (2nd), batting average (12th), on-base percentage (15th), runs scored per game (15th), slugging percentage (.526, 15th), and home runs per game (1.29, 17th).

March 14-16: vs. Arizona State – Orlando, Fla.

UCF will return from Tucson to meet the Arizona State Sun Devils to open the program’s home conference slate, the second Big 12 newcomer on the Knights’ conference schedule. The Sun Devils produced a 20-31 overall record last season, including a 3-21 mark in Pac-12 play, and advanced as far as the second round of the Pac-12 Tournament, toppling Oregon State, 3-1, before falling to UCLA, 6-0.

Arizona State earned a top five ranked win over then-No. 5 Washington March 10, snapping the Huskies’ 10-game win streak to conclude the teams’ March 8-10 series, and later earned its second ranked win of the season over then-No. 20 California, 5-4, April 27.

March 20-22: vs. Iowa State – Orlando, Fla.

The squad against which UCF concluded its 2024 regular season on the road, the Iowa State Cyclones will make the trip south to represent the Knights’ third conference opponent and second at home. Iowa State notched a 20-31 overall record a year ago, including a 6-18 showing in Big 12 play, and dropped a hard-fought 10-9, eight-inning battle with Texas Tech in the first round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship.

The Cyclones’ 2024 campaign was highlighted by a trio of ranked wins, including a series win over then-No. 5 Oklahoma State. The group’s first win over the Cowgirls, a 2-0 showing April 12, marked the first top five win in program history, and Iowa State the next day secured the highest-ranked series win in program history with a 5-2 seven-inning walk-off victory.

The Black and Gold later earned their fifth conference series win of the season against the Cyclones, bouncing back from a loss in the series-opener with 12-3 and 4-0 wins May 4-5.

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March 28-30: at Baylor – Waco, Texas

For the second time in as many seasons, UCF will make the trip to Waco, Texas, for a road series against Baylor. The Knights last year ended up on the wrong side of three straight hard-fought, one-run losses to the Bears.

Baylor in 2024 produced a 36-23 overall record, accompanied by a 14-13 mark in conference play. The Bears would eliminate the host Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns from the NCAA Lafayette Regional before taking No. 4 Florida to a winner-take-all Game 3 in the NCAA Gainesville Super Regional.

The team earned six ranked wins in the regular season before it notched winning efforts against 13th-seeded Louisiana and No. 4 Florida in tournament play, including two over then-No. 23 Louisiana, one against then-No. 25 Oregon, one over then-No. 19 UCLA, one against then-No. 13 Missouri, and one over then-No. 7 Oklahoma State.

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April 10-12: at BYU – Provo, Utah

One year removed from earning the first Big 12 Conference sweep in program history against the Cougars at home, the Knights will make the trip to Provo for their third Big 12 road trip of the season.

UCF claimed all three contests against BYU a year ago, outscoring the Cougars by an aggregate 17-10. Then-redshirt junior utility player Stormy Kotzelnick enjoyed a dominant weekend, hitting .500/.500/.800 (5-for-10) with three doubles, two runs scored, two RBI and eight total bases, while then-sophomore infielder Aubrey Evans delivered her first career walk-off hit in the eighth inning of the series finale to clinch the sweep.

The Cougars earned three ranked wins over Oklahoma State and Oklahoma last year, taking the second game of the teams’ regular-season series against the then-No. 4 Cowgirls before eliminating third-seeded Oklahoma State from the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship May 9. BYU also toppled the top-ranked Sooners in game two of their regular-season series April 12 by a 9-4 final score in Norman.

April 17-19: vs. Oklahoma State – Orlando, Fla.

After the Knights made trips to Stillwater, Oklahoma, in both of the last two seasons, the Oklahoma State Cowgirls will visit Orlando representing UCF’s penultimate regular-season Big 12 home series this spring.

Oklahoma State last year advanced further than any other program on the Knights’ conference slate, producing a dominant 49-12 overall record, including a 21-6 mark in Big 12 play, en route to the team’s fifth consecutive Women’s College World Series appearance and fourth straight top eight national seed.

The squad earned a series win over the eventual-National Champion Oklahoma Sooners in Norman to conclude the regular season May 3-5, and after falling in the first round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship to BYU, Oklahoma State downed Northern Colorado, Kentucky and Michigan in the NCAA Stillwater Regional before sweeping the Arizona Wildcats in two games to punch their ticket to Oklahoma City.

Consecutive shutout losses to Florida and Stanford ended the Cowgirls’ season in the World Series, though Oklahoma State still enjoyed a standout campaign that saw the squad rank among the nation’s leaders in home runs per game (1.51, 2nd Big 12, 5th NCAA), slugging percentage (.554, 3rd Big 12, 9th NCAA), shutouts (15, 3rd Big 12, 10th NCAA), ERA (2.07, 3rd Big 12, 14th NCAA), fielding percentage (.976, 3rd Big 12, 15th NCAA) and doubles (85, 4th Big 12, 26th NCAA).

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April 25-27: vs. Houston – Orlando, Fla.

For the second time in the past three seasons, the Knights will conclude their home conference slate with a three-game set against the Houston Cougars. UCF has enjoyed a good deal of success against the Cougars over the last two seasons, going 6-0 in the teams’ six meetings between Orlando and Houston and outscoring the Cougars 46-4 with four shutout wins in that span.

UCF last season swept the Cougars in three games in Houston, scoring 27 runs to Houston’s two. Right-hander Sarah Willis, since graduated, and catcher Ashleigh Griffin became the first two Knights in program history to garner Big 12 Pitcher of the Week and Player of the Week honors, respectively, for their efforts in the series as well.

Though Houston’s 25-30 season ended with a Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship first-round loss to Kansas, the Cougars produced a statement victory in their inaugural game as a member of the Big 12, outslugging the then-No. 1 Texas Longhorns by a 12-10 final score to earn the highest-ranked win in program history.

May 2-4: at Kansas – Lawrence, Kan.

After UCF opened its inaugural Big 12 Conference schedule against the Jayhawks in Orlando last year, the Knights will conclude their 2025 league slate against Kansas in Lawrence. The Black and Gold earned the first Big 12 Conference series win in program history over Kansas last year, taking the first two games of the set by 7-1 and 3-2 final scores, including a walk-off win in eight innings in game two.

The Jayhawks went 28-25-1 in 2024, including an 11-16 mark in conference play. The group earned a top 20 win over then-No. 17 Texas A&M, 1-0, in College Station Feb. 24, and later produced a sweep of the then-No. 13 Baylor Bears at home by an aggregate six runs to two in the series.

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