No. 20 Softball Earns Series Win over No. 24 Kansas with 9-2 Saturday WinNo. 20 Softball Earns Series Win over No. 24 Kansas with 9-2 Saturday Win

No. 20 Softball Earns Series Win over No. 24 Kansas with 9-2 Saturday Win

by Ryan Ladika
Box Score

ORLANDO – Behind a relentless offensive attack that featured double-digit hits and a pair of four-run innings, the No. 20 UCF softball team clinched yet another Big 12 Conference series win in 2026.

“Every win from here on out is so important, because we’re fighting for more than just getting into the conference tournament and making a regional, we want to be able to host if we can,” said head coach Cindy Ball-Malone. “If we can do that, we’re going to do our best. Playing our best softball at the end of the year is what we’re striving to do.”

The Knights took another big step in that direction Saturday, earning a convincing 9-2 victory over the visiting No. 24 Kansas Jayhawks, a victory that ensured the Knights a few more key milestones as the regular season’s conclusion draws nearer.

With their 35th win of the spring, the Black and Gold matched their previous overall best in their Big 12 Conference era, moving to 35-11-1 overall through 47 games, and 12-7-1 in league play entering Sunday’s series finale.

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UCF has now also assured itself a winning record in Big 12 Conference play for the first time in program history with four games against league opponents yet to play, and enters its last game against the Jayhawks in third place overall in the Big 12 standings, which would represent a new single-season best finish if the season ended today.

“That was one of our goals coming into the season, and we know it’s a grind. There’s no break, and we wanted to be as consistent as possible. To be able to say that, we’re proud of what we’ve done, but we’re not done yet. We have a long way to go.”

Cindy Ball-Malonehead coach

In clinching its fifth overall conference series win of the season and third against a ranked opponent, UCF matched its single-season program record with its seventh ranked win of the spring, and its five conference series wins also tie the program’s most in a season since joining the Big 12 with one to play. The Knights also clinched their third consecutive series win over the Jayhawks in three meetings with Kansas since UCF joined the Big 12.

As it did in Friday’s series-opener, UCF claimed a quick early advantage over Kansas in the first inning on a run-scoring hit by Damon, this time on a two-out single to right field that plated Aubrey Evans, who singled to lead off the game.

The Knights broke the game open two innings later, scoring four more times on Aubrey Evans’ ninth home run of the year and key run-scoring hits by Sierra Humphreys and Ashleigh Griffin to balloon the Black and Gold advantage to 5-1.

The early run support went appreciated by freshman right-hander Ava Stuewe, who was tabbed for her 12th start and 19th appearance of the season by Ball-Malone and turned in one of her strongest of the season to this point.

Her 4.1 innings matched her second longest outing in a Big 12 Conference game this season, second only to her 6.2-inning effort against then-No.12 Oklahoma State March 7, and in her latest appearance clinched her first career winning decision over a power four opponent.

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“I felt good going into the game, knowing that I could trust my defense behind me the whole time. I did my best to throw my stuff, and it’s really exciting to see what we’ve done so far and we can do going forward.”

Ava Stueweright-handed pitcher

She stranded a leadoff walk in the top of the first inning with a pair of strikeouts and later added a perfect third inning while limiting the visitors to just two runs on four hits with four strikeouts overall.

The Knights soon added their second four-run inning of the contest, when Kendall Yarnell slugged her second home run in as many days following Izzy Mertes’ leadoff walk in the fifth inning, and Macy Miles and Zoe Calvez also drove in two more in the frame.

With Yarnell’s two-run blast, she clinched her squad’s 13th multi-home run game of the year and sent UCF’s 60th home run of the season over the fence, and extended her overall team-leading total to 14 as well.

Senior right-hander Lena Elkins was called upon in relief by Ball-Malone in the top of the fifth inning, meanwhile, and locked down her first save of the season and second of her career with 2.2 scoreless innings. She lowered her season ERA to 2.63 in the outing, and boasts a 1.65 mark in her last 17 innings spanning five appearances dating back to UCF’s series win over Utah.

“Ava gave us a really good game, and we knew we were going to go to Lena at some point,” Ball-Malone continued. “I’m pleased with how our hitters performed as well. We made better adjustments at the plate today, and we went after our pitches. We had better looks at their pitches and a better approach all around this afternoon.”

UP NEXT
UCF goes for the series sweep in game three against the No. 24 Jayhawks, with first pitch set for 11 a.m. ET from the UCF Softball Complex.

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.