Isabella Vega Throws First Career Perfect Game in No. 22 Softball's 11-0 Win Over HoustonIsabella Vega Throws First Career Perfect Game in No. 22 Softball's 11-0 Win Over Houston

Isabella Vega Throws First Career Perfect Game in No. 22 Softball's 11-0 Win Over Houston

by Ryan Ladika
Box Score

HOUSTON, Texas – She became aware in the second inning something special was brewing, but that didn’t change her mentality throughout the game.

“After the second inning I started thinking, ‘I got this,’” Knights right-hander Isabella Vega recalled. “I wasn’t trying to do too much or change anything, I was just attacking the zone and trusting my pitches to move a lot.”

Continuing to attack the zone and trusting in her arsenal served Vega well.

The right-hander cruised through five innings in her game two start against the Houston Cougars Saturday afternoon, retiring each of the 15 hitters she faced en route to tossing the fourth perfect game in program history, the first of her career, and the second no-hitter of her collegiate tenure, in UCF’s 11-0 run-rule victory over the Cougars.

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“I’m really proud of myself and of the team. They did a great job having my back and playing defense while producing so much offensively. I’m very happy and proud. I made the adjustments where I needed to throughout the game just to keep them off balance.”

Isabella VegaRedshirt sophomore right-handed pitcher

Vega struck out seven throughout her latest effort, the second no-hitter of her career and first since she stifled the Kansas Jayhawks in the teams’ series-opener in Lawrence May 2, 2025.

Her Saturday start also marked UCF’s second perfect game thrown against the Houston Cougars in program history, joining current-graduate assistant Sarah Willis’ seven-inning showing against the Cougars in Orlando April 28, 2023, and the 25th no-hitter in program history.

The Black and Gold’s other two perfect games were authored by Pysha Simmons against Morris Brown Feb. 2, 2003, and Taylor Sawyer against Bucknell March 13, 2003, and Vega’s effort ensured UCF will have thrown at least one no-hitter in five consecutive seasons as well.

All 15 outs from Isabella Vega's perfect game at Houston March 28, 2026.

“They’re a great hitting team, but I think I did a good job yesterday. Carrying that momentum into today and also making the right adjustments and being better about location and continuing to trust my stuff was important. When I locate and trust my stuff at the same time, good things happen.”

Isabella Vegaredshirt sophomore right-hander

She was bolstered by a second consecutive 10-plus-run display by her offensive corps that clinched UCF’s second straight five-inning run-rule victory and 11th run-rule win of the spring to lift the squad to 27-10 overall and 5-6 in Big 12 Conference play.

Redshirt senior Ashleigh Griffin pushed across UCF’s first score with a bases-loaded walk in the top of the first inning, and the Black and Gold moments later exploded for 10 runs in the top of the second.

Three more walks drawn with the bases loaded, by Izzy Mertes, Sierra Humphreys and Zoe Calvez, in addition to a wild pitch and two RBI singles by Griffin and Samantha Rey, helped build a 7-0 lead, before sophomore third baseman Coco Jaimes strode to the plate with the bases loaded.

After working ahead early taking a first-pitch ball, Jaimes clubbed the second offering of her at-bat over the center field wall for her first home run of the season, second home run of her career, and her first career grand slam.

“It was so cool, very electric. A lot of good energy. I was just smiling running around the bases, it was a lot of fun. It felt good coming off the bat.”

Coco Jaimessophomore third baseman

The long ball also represented UCF’s fourth grand slam of the season after Mertes and Kendall Yarnell accounted for their team’s first three against Maryland and Boston U over the season’s first weekend.

Vega, staked to an 11-0 lead, never let up. After she notched her first strikeout of the afternoon in the top of the first inning, she fanned two more in the second, one in the third, one in the fourth and one to end the bottom of the fifth.

“It was so fun, so awesome. That last strikeout was so cool, and for her to experience that and see that energy from her was really cool.”

Vega lowered her season ERA to a glistening 1.82 through 84.2 innings of work in her team’s latest triumph, authoring her sixth complete game of the year and her fourth outing of at least five innings pitched and two or fewer runs allowed. The right-hander is also within striking distance of setting new single-season career bests in complete games (currently 7, 2025) and winning decisions (currently 14, 2025).

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The Knights as whole, meanwhile, clinched their sixth consecutive series win over the Cougars, pushing their advantage over Houston to 39-23 all-time and 18-3 in the programs’ last 21 meetings. The series win marks the Knights’ second of the season, joining their effort against then-No. 12 Oklahoma State March 6-8, and UCF’s 11th since joining the Big 12 Conference prior to the 2024 slate.

With consecutive run-rule victories, UCF has also now run-ruled its opposition in multiple games of a single conference series for the first time since the Black and Gold’s last trip to Houston April 12-14, 2024, when the team outscored the Cougars by an aggregate 27-2 over the three-game set that featured 9-0 and 11-0 game one and two wins.

UP NEXT
UCF looks to complete the three-game series sweep in the teams’ weekend finale Sunday. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. ET from Cougar Softball Stadium 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.