ORLANDO – Fresh off the team’s Wednesday midweek triumph over the FIU Panthers in Miami, the No. 21 UCF softball team is gearing up for one of its biggest tests of the 2026 season, as the squad will welcome the No. 3 Texas Tech Red Raiders to Orlando in the teams’ third Big 12 Conference weekend series of the spring.
The matchup between the programs represents UCF’s first conference series against a consensus top 10 opponent since the Knights earned the highest ranked series win in program history against then-No. 4 Arizona March 7-9, 2025, and their first such conference matchup at home since the Black and Gold hosted then-No. 2 Oklahoma April 26-28, 2024.
In facing off against the Red Raiders this weekend, the Black and Gold will meet a Texas Tech squad that came within one win of claiming the 2025 Division I National Championship, falling in three games to the No. 6 overall seed Texas Longhorns in the Women’s College World Series Championship Series.
The Red Raiders, led by star two-way transfer NiJaree Canady, set numerous program records throughout their historic 2025 campaign, winning the first Big 12 regular-season and tournament championships in program history, hosting their first NCAA Regional, advancing to their first NCAA Super Regional, and later making it to the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City for the first time in program history.
Texas Tech in 2025 authored the first 50-plus-win season in program history, eclipsing the 40-win mark for the first time since 2019, and took down each of Arizona, Mississippi State, Florida State, Ole Miss, UCLA and Oklahoma on its postseason road to its championship series matchup against the Longhorns. The Red Raiders this season are off to a 27-2 start through 29 games, having dropped contests only to Nebraska and Arizona thus far.
The Knights, meanwhile, will look to claim their first win over a top three opponent since they bested then-No. 3 Florida at home, 4-0, March 26, 2025, the first series win over a top three foe in program history, and their second ranked series win of the season.
UCF kicked off conference play in 2026 with a statement in Stillwater, Oklahoma, taking two of three from then-No. 12 Oklahoma State March 6-8 to earn the first road win and overall series win over the Cowgirls in program history. The effort also gave the Knights their second and third ranked wins of the season, after the squad toppled then-No. 10 LSU in Clearwater by a 5-1 final score Feb. 14.
With a win over Baylor to kick off the team’s second conference series March 13, UCF brings four RPI top 25 wins into the weekend series against Texas Tech, having earned winning results against the Bears (No. 16), Oklahoma State (No. 23) twice, and LSU (No. 14). The Knights’ place at No. 25 in Thursday’s RPI update matches a 2026 season-best for the program.
UCF will meet Texas Tech this weekend for the first time since the Knights’ inaugural season as a member of the Big 12 Conference in 2024, when the Black and Gold earned the first road Big 12 Conference series win in program history over the Red Raiders in Lubbock, Texas March 28-30.
The Knights outscored the Red Raiders 20-14 in the series’ first two games, contests that represented milestone wins for head coach Cindy Ball-Malone, who recorded her 200th UCF win in the series-opener and her 300th career victory in the Knights’ game two triumph. The Black and Gold own a 6-4 edge over the Red Raiders in the programs’ all-time series entering the weekend’s action.
Sophomore utility Kendall Yarnell represents UCF’s offensive leader entering the weekend, slashing a team-best .423/.512/.859 (30-for-71) with 27 RBI and 16 extra-base hits following her two-RBI showing in the Knights’ 3-1 win over FIU in Miami March 18.
Redshirt sophomore right-hander Isabella Vega and freshman righty Ava Stuewe pace UCF in the circle, meanwhile, with both boasting sub-2.00 ERAs in at least 44 innings of work. Vega, the Knights’ breakout star hurler last season, has followed with a dominant 1.90 ERA through her first 62.2 innings this spring, tossing four complete games and limiting her opposition to a .195 batting average-against with 53 strikeouts thus far.
First pitch for Friday’s series-opener is set for 6 p.m. from the UCF Softball Complex and will be streamed live on ESPN+.
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.