CLEARWATER, Fla. – The UCF softball team completed its run through the 2025 Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational with a 4-4 weather-shortened tie with the Ohio State Buckeyes and an 8-1 loss to the No. 6 Florida State Seminoles Sunday.
The tie, brought upon by an afternoon rain shower, marked the first for UCF since the Black and Gold played to a 0-0 draw with then-No. 20 Wichita State April 18, 2021, which was called after 11 scoreless innings due to reaching the drop-dead time for travel arrangements.
The Knights enjoyed a strong beginning to their Sunday opener against the Buckeyes, seeing a dominant start by redshirt freshman right-hander Isabella Vega bolstered by a four-run third inning.
Vega, making her fifth appearance of the season and second start, limited Ohio State to two runs in her three-plus innings accompanied by seven strikeouts, her second most in an appearance after punching out nine against No. 15 Missouri Feb. 11.
After the Buckeyes cracked the scoreboard first in the top of the second, the Knights rallied to take their first lead of the contest in the bottom of the third. The squad loaded the bases on walks by Aubrey Evans and Izzy Mertes before Ashleigh Griffin was hit by a pitch.
Right fielder Taylor Kittleman’s chance was next, and she became the second straight Knight to be hit by a pitch and forced in the tying run.
Moments later, third baseman Sierra Humphreys provided the key hit her team was looking for, lining a 2-2 pitch down the right field line, clearing the bases with her first triple of the season to slingshot UCF ahead, 4-1.
The Buckeyes would later rally for three more scores to tie the game at four with a run in the fourth and two more in the fifth before inclement weather moved into the area and forced the game’s early conclusion with no winner.
The Knights scored their lone tally of their nightcap against the sixth-ranked Seminoles in the home half of the sixth inning, on a ground ball fielder’s choice off the bat of Beth Damon that plated Stormy Kotzelnick.
UP NEXT
After playing 13 games in the span of the first 12 days of the spring season, the Knights will have three days to prepare for their next action. UCF will now return home from its first road trip of the season to host the SpaceU Classic from Feb. 20-23 at the UCF Softball Complex, where it will host Quinnipiac, Pitt, FGCU and Columbia.
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