ORLANDO – Having produced a strong showing throughout its 2025 non-conference schedule, the UCF softball team is set for its first Big 12 Conference action of the year, a three-game road series against the No. 4 Arizona Wildcats in Tucson, Arizona.
The Knights make the cross-country trip owning a record 10 games north of .500, at 17-7-1, highlighted by a pair of top 25-ranked victories against then-No. 15 Missouri at home Feb. 11 and then-No. 22 Florida Atlantic on the road Feb. 26.
UCF was rewarded for its efforts thus far in the first release of the NCAA’s official RPI rankings Monday, a key metric used by the NCAA Tournament selection committee that ranks teams based on wins, losses and strength of schedule.
The Black and Gold debuted at No. 23 in the nation in the first rankings Monday, the team’s highest mark in a season’s first release since the 2022 Knights were slotted No. 19 on March 6, a season that would culminate in a 49-14 record and the first NCAA Super Regional berth in program history. The squad joins four other Big 12 schools within the top 25 as well, joining Arizona (No. 4), Oklahoma State (No. 11), Texas Tech (No. 17) and Houston (No. 21).
UCF also already owns four RPI top 50 wins in accordance with the first rankings release of the season, in the team’s 6-4 extra-inning win over Clemson (No. 24), its 6-5 eight-inning win over Missouri (No. 28), its 3-0 shutout of Florida Atlantic (No. 38), and its 3-1 victory over NC State (No. 49).
The Black and Gold most recently concluded a 5-1 weekend that featured their second ranked win of the year, outscoring their opposition by an aggregate 29-7 in wins over No. 22 Florida Atlantic, Providence, George Mason and North Florida.
The team was led offensively over the last week by freshman Izzy Mertes, sophomore Sierra Humphreys, redshirt senior Stormy Kotzelnick and junior Aubrey Evans. Mertes and Humphreys both recorded averages of at least .400 in their six games, with Mertes slugging her second NCAA home run in UCF’s 6-0 shutout win over the Ospreys.
Kotzelnick’s four doubles in six games paced the squad in the category in that span, helping add to UCF’s team total of 38 two baggers that share the top spot in the Big 12 Conference with Arizona.
Evans’ 12 total bases represented the most on the team throughout the last week as well, as she hit her first home run of the season and the fifth of her career in UCF’s 8-0 run-rule victory over George Mason.
Freshman infielder Kendall Yarnell continued to prove herself in key late-game situations as well, coming through with pinch-hit singles in each of her three at-bats, including a crucial RBI single in the fifth inning of UCF’s 4-3 comeback win over Providence.
Yarnell enters Big 12 Conference play tied for second in the league in pinch hits with three, behind only Arizona’s Emily Schepp (4).
UCF in the circle last week was led by redshirt freshman Isabella Vega, who went 2-0 in her team-leading 14.2 innings without surrendering a run. She limited her opponents to just six hits and a .125 batting average-against, and struck out a team-best 15 while throwing an 11-strikeout complete-game one-hit shutout against Providence March 1.
Senior right-hander Kaitlyn Felton also added two wins and one save to her ledger over the last week, throwing 12.2 scoreless innings including a seven-inning shutout of North Florida March 1, her single-season career high third of the campaign. She also recorded her second save and fifth of her career in closing out UCF’s 3-0 shutout win at No. 22 Florida Atlantic Feb. 26.
Entering conference play, Felton has yielded just four earned runs in her first 48.1 innings pitched this spring, good for a 0.58 ERA that ranks second-lowest in the Big 12 behind only BYU’s Kaysen Korth (0.27), and ninth nationally.
The Valrico, Florida, native also ranks among Big 12 Conference leaders in shutouts (3, 1st), winning decisions (8, T-1st), complete games (4, T-2nd), saves (2, T-2nd), WHIP (0.81, 4th), fewest walks allowed per seven innings (1.01, 5th), fewest hits allowed per seven innings (4.63, 5th) and innings pitched (48.1, T-7th).
When it meets Arizona during the weekend series, UCF will clash with one of the nation’s top programs through the first month of the 2025 season, as the fourth-ranked Wildcats boast wins in 21 of their first 23 games, including ranked wins over then-No. 11 Alabama Feb. 8 (9-1, 5 inn.), then-No. 20 Stanford twice Feb. 20 (4-1) and Feb. 23 (10-2, 6 inn.), then-No. 4 UCLA (9-8, 10 inn.), and then-No. 23 San Diego State March 2 (11-3, 6 inn.).
Their 21-2 record leads the Big 12 by 4.5 games over second-place BYU and No. 12 Oklahoma State (14-4), and only No. 3 Florida owns more total wins in the nation with 23.
UCF looks to improve upon a 1-1 all-time record against the Wildcats, with the Knights' win coming against then-No. 2 Arizona in Orlando March 8, 2021. The effort, spearheaded by a complete-game, two-hit shutout authored by Gianna Mancha, still stands as the second-highest ranked win in UCF softball's program history.
The Wildcats also enter the weekend series leading the Big 12 Conference in team batting average (.397), doubles (38), total hits (252), home runs (33), on-base percentage (.473), RBI (182), runs per game (8.87), slugging percentage (.638), total runs scored (204) and triples (8), and represent the national leader in total hits as well.
First pitch times are set for 8 p.m., 6 p.m. and 1 p.m. ET from Hillenbrand Stadium in Tucson, and all three games will be streamed on ESPN+.
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