Softball Signs Transfer C/INF Onnika SpencerSoftball Signs Transfer C/INF Onnika Spencer

Softball Signs Transfer C/INF Onnika Spencer

by Ryan Ladika

ORLANDO – Representing the Knights’ fourth transfer portal addition this summer, former Tennessee State catcher/infielder Onnika Spencer has joined the UCF softball team for her senior campaign.

Spencer spent her first three collegiate seasons with the Tigers, during which she hit a combined .323/.389/.595 (133-for-412) accompanied by 76 runs scored, 31 doubles, three triples, 25 home runs, 245 total bases, 43 walks and 93 RBI spanning 140 games.

“I chose UCF because I’m built on grit, heart and hustle, and I feel like everyone from the coaching staff to the players here want to be the best version of themselves they can be. Everyone surrounded me with positivity, and everyone has that hunger to win, and it caught my attention.”

Onnika Spencercatcher/infielder

A two-time All-OVC selection in 2023 and 2024, Spencer started 136 of her 140 career games, including at least 43 games in each of her first three seasons, and has recorded at least 42 hits, 81 total bases and 27 RBI every year.

Throughout her junior 2025 slate, Spencer set new single-season career bests in on-base percentage (.419), slugging percentage (.609), runs scored (31), triples (2), walks (21) and stolen bases (5), while matching her previous season highs in home runs (9) and RBI (33).

She produced her first career multi-homer game against Samford Feb. 9 and later homered in three consecutive games against North Dakota, Wofford and Buffalo Feb. 28-March 1. She also recorded a trio of hitting streaks of at least seven games throughout the 2025 season, highlighted by a 10-game streak Feb. 28-March 14.

“The coaches were very real in my conversations with them. They have great integrity, honesty and they’re very welcoming. I felt very comfortable, and like I was in a good place once I got around them. It felt like home.”

Onnika Spencercatcher/infielder

Her season best .341 average came in her sophomore 2024 campaign, during which she notched 12 multi-hit games and hit safely in 33 of her 46 total appearances overall.

Spencer helped lead Tennessee State to a pair of wins in the 2024 OVC Tournament as well, hitting safely in all four of the Tigers’ postseason contests highlighted by a 3-for-4 showing with a triple against seventh-seeded Tennessee Tech.

Immediately placed into her squad’s starting lineup during her freshman 2023 season, Spencer recorded her first career three-hit contest in her third career game, going 3-for-4 with her first career home run, four RBI and two runs scored against Alcorn Feb. 12.

She would later total 10 multi-hit showings on the season en route to a .298/.361/.574 line with 24 runs scored, 12 doubles, nine home runs and 27 RBI through her first 49 collegiate games.

Spencer joins rising sophomore outfielder Kalista Birkenstock, rising senior left-handed pitcher/outfielder Carley Jo Penner and rising sophomore outfielder Zoe Calvez as the fourth member of UCF’s 2025 transfer class.

About UCF Athletics

UCF is a proud member of the Big 12 Conference. Our mission is to positively transform the lives of our students academically, athletically, and personally through a nationally competitive intercollegiate athletics program that enhances the reputation and visibility of the University. We strive to be Florida’s preeminent athletic program representing UCF and our community with distinction on the national stage as “Orlando’s Hometown Team”. To learn more about UCF and Athletics, please visit our websites at www.ucf.edu and www.ucfknights.com.