Softball Splits Thursday Opener with CSU Bakersfield, No. 12 Georgia

ORLANDO – The youth movement has arrived.

The UCF softball team graduated an 11-member senior class following the conclusion of the 2024 season, and head coach Cindy Ball-Malone afforded the program’s next wave of talent ample opportunities throughout the squad’s first day of the 2025 campaign.

Led by eight players making their collegiate debuts, the Knights earned a split of Thursday’s action, first toppling the CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners in five innings, 10-0, before dropping their nightcap to No. 12 Georgia, 4-0.

Redshirt freshman right-hander Isabella Vega was tabbed for the first start of her career in UCF’s (1-1) season-opening tilt against the Roadrunners (0-2) and settled into an immediate groove.

The Bradenton native faced the minimum three hitters in the first and third frames, and pitched to just four hitters in each of her remaining three innings.

She sprinkled her first four collegiate strikeouts into the first, second, fourth and fifth innings as well, clinching her first winning decision and complete-game shutout in her first career appearance.

The last Knight to earn her first win and complete-game shutout in the same outing was her current teammate Katelyn Cochran, who stymied the North Florida Ospreys in UCF’s 9-0, five-inning win April 2, 2024.

Vega’s team came through for her on both sides of the ball, playing spotless defense while collecting its 10 runs on 10 hits including three doubles. The squad broke out early with four tallies in the home half of the first and six more scores in the bottom of the third.

Reigning unanimous 2024 All-Big 12 Freshman Sierra Humphreys led the way with a 3-for-3 showing, including her second career multi-double game that aided in producing the fifth game of her young career with at least three RBI.

CC doubles for the second time in a six-run third, and she’s 3-for-3 in her season debut 🔥😱

T4
CSUB 0
UCF 10 pic.twitter.com/q6h2spGws1

— UCF Softball (@UCF_Softball) February 6, 2025

She plated Stormy Kotzelnick with a first-inning RBI double that proceeded run-scoring hits by freshman Izzy Mertes and redshirt junior Ashleigh Griffin, and later swatted her second two-bagger of the evening to cap the Knights’ offensive exploits in the bottom of the third, sending home Kotzelnick and fellow unanimous 2024 All-Big 12 Freshman Samantha Rey.

Mertes made a strong first impression herself, joining Humphreys and Rey as the third Knight to notch a multi-hit contest in the team’s opener. The Chatsworth, California, native slugged the third of UCF’s three doubles and scored Humphreys in the bottom of the first inning with an infield RBI single.

Freshman catcher Beth Damon took advantage of her first career start as well, driving in a pair on her third-inning two-run single to record her first collegiate hit and RBI.

While the Black and Gold’s offense was later quieted against the 12th-ranked Bulldogs (2-0), the team’s youthful pitching staff combined for a strong showing against a Georgia squad that ranked second in the SEC in slugging percentage (.527) and fourth in scoring (5.76 runs per game) in 2024, among other key figures.

Freshman right-hander Yessenia Lopez, a winner of the 2023 Pan American Games’ silver medal with the Puerto Rico national team, was tasked with the first assignment against Georgia, surrendering just one earned run in her two innings of work.

Redshirt sophomore Macy Miles, after sitting out the 2024 season, was called upon next and produced 1.2 innings of scoreless ball in relief. She danced around a leadoff third-inning walk and recorded the first two outs of the fourth before allowing a two-out double.

Junior right-hander Katelyn Cochran picked up her teammate, later inducing a fielder’s choice two strand two Bulldogs.

“A couple pitches here and there and it’s a different ballgame from the defense, but we need to put the game in motion offensively too,” Ball-Malone continued. “We had a lot of pressure on our pitching and defense because we didn’t put a lot of pressure on them after the first inning.”

Georgia plated two more sixth-inning runs to extend its lead to 4-0, but the tandem of Vega and senior Kaitlyn Felton earned the final four defensive outs to limit the damage.

Felton, the lone senior on UCF’s roster to spend all four years of her career donning the Black and Gold, broke a tie with former teammate Sarah Willis for sole possession of 10th place on the UCF all-time appearances list (66) in the loss and trails Grace Jewell (73) by seven for ninth place on the list.

UP NEXT

The Knights look for their second win of the season as the Black and Gold Classic continues Friday, when the team will meet NC State at 4:30 p.m. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.

FOLLOW THE KNIGHTS

Follow UCF softball on X (@UCF_Softball), Instagram (@UCF.Softball) and Facebook (/UCFSoftball).

GET THE APP

Never miss any UCF Knights news from your favorite teams by downloading the free UCF Knights app right to your iOS or Android devices. The app provides personalized information for men’s and women’s teams, scores, schedules, loyalty programs and breaking news. Click here to download the app now.