Softball Blasts Eight Home Runs in 14-13 Road Win over Stetson

DeLAND, Fla. – “We’re in a situation where we can’t just put the ball in play,” said head coach Cindy Ball-Malone.

“We need to swing big.”

Did they ever.

The UCF softball team has made history in a variety of avenues throughout the 2025 campaign, from kicking off conference play with its highest-ranked series win over then-No. 4 Arizona, to its largest comeback win over a ranked opponent against then-No. 15 Missouri, to name a couple.

On Wednesday night in DeLand, the squad once again rewrote its history, accomplishing something no other Knights team had done in the program’s first 23 years of existence.

Powered by a single-game program record eight home runs, the Black and Gold erased an 11-0 first-inning deficit to earn the largest overall comeback win in program history, 14-13, over the Stetson Hatters at Patricia Wilson Field.

In addition to setting new program single-game marks for the comeback (11 runs) and homers (8), the Knights also hit five home runs in a single inning for the first time in program history, and slugged back-to-back-to-back homers in an inning for the first time as well.

UCF’s most prolific offensive display since its 21-9 victory over Wisconsin during the 2024 Clearwater Invitational came on the back of home runs by Aubrey Evans, Sierra Humphreys, Samantha Rey, Ashleigh Griffin, and multi-homer games from both Izzy Mertes and Kiley Strott.

The squad’s 17 hits marked a new single-game season high, and the team’s highest single-game total since its 25-hit barrage against the Badgers Feb. 16, 2024.

Mired in an 11-0 deficit upon the conclusion of the game’s first inning, the Knights never stopped battling.

They first made a sizeable dent in the Hatters’ early advantage with a six-run third frame that featured the first five of their eight home runs. With one out, Aubrey Evans tied freshman catcher Beth Damon for the team lead with her seventh of the season, and Humphreys immediately followed with her fourth of the spring, cutting Stetson’s lead to 11-2.

After Stormy Kotzelnick lined a single through the right side of the infield, Mertes then blasted a two-run shot to left-center field, and was immediately followed by Strott’s first career home run, and Rey’s second collegiate long ball.

The inning, one that saw the Hatters’ lead shrink from 11-0 to 11-6 in a matter of minutes, injected new life into the visitors’ dugout.

All FIVE of our third-inning homers!

💥💥💥💥💥 pic.twitter.com/DmfWlTQ4Rp

— UCF Softball (@UCF_Softball) April 23, 2025

With the contest’s momentum swung firmly in the other direction, Ball-Malone called once again upon redshirt freshman Isabella Vega to leave her mark in another historic moment for the 2025 Knights.

Vega, who this season has already played instrumental roles in ranked wins over No. 3 Florida, No. 4 Arizona, No. 15 Missouri and No. 22 Florida Atlantic, stifled Stetson over five innings of work Wednesday to allow her team time to mount its comeback.

She entered with a runner on in the bottom of the third and none out, and induced a 5-4-3 double play before fanning her first Hatters hitter of the night to produce a needed 0 on the scoreboard.

Though Stetson managed two more runs in the bottom of the fourth, UCF’s offensive corps continued its attack, getting both right back in the top of the fifth frame on Mertes’ second homer of the night and Strott sneaking home on the back end of an attempted double-steal after the sophomore lined her first career double down the left field line.

Vega stranded a one-out double in the bottom of the fifth and authored a spotless sixth frame, setting the stage for the Black and Gold to complete their historic comeback.

Strott led off the frame with her second home run of the evening, pulling her team to within four runs, and an Evans RBI single later in the frame trimmed the Hatters’ lead to 13-10.

Humphreys and Kotzelnick both came through with singles in the moments following, and Griffin strode to the plate with her team trailing 13-11 and two on base with two outs.

Down to her final strike, Griffin did that and then some, slugging the Knights’ eighth homer of the night over the left-center field wall to give UCF its first lead of the game, 14-13.

“Some big-time key performances from a lot of our hitters, they had each other’s backs tonight,” Ball-Malone said. “We put Ashleigh in that position in our lineup because she’s one of our best situational hitters. I told her, ‘You’re a really good matchup for this pitcher.’ It’s crazy what belief does. She hung in there in a long at-bat, and that was huge for her.”

Vega, working with a lead for the first time in the bottom of the seventh inning, quickly dispatched of the final three Stetson hitters, inducing a pop out to Humphreys at third base in foul territory before rolling a game-ending 4-6-3 double play.

“We’re really big on 21-on-one, we made them feel like they were facing all of us, not just one hitter,” Ball-Malone continued. “When you do that, good things happen.”

UP NEXT

The Knights look to bring their momentum into the final three home games of their regular season and the campaign’s penultimate Big 12 Conference series against the Houston Cougars. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. from the UCF Softball Complex Friday evening and will be streamed on ESPN+.

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