No. 17 Softball Readying for Home-and-Home Series Against No. 5 Florida

ORLANDO – As the No. 17 UCF softball team enters the final two weekends of its 2026 regular season, the squad is readying for one of its largest tests of the campaign, when it will square off against the No. 5 Florida Gators on back-to-back days in the teams’ two-game home-and-home series Friday and Saturday, April 24-25.

The Knights enter the weekend series riding the momentum of one of the strongest regular seasons in recent memory, and their most dominant since the squad went 44-12 during the 2022 regular season en route to its first selection as an NCAA Regional host in program history.

UCF, comfortably placed among the nation’s quad one teams through 49 games, enter play this weekend ranked as high as No. 17 in the nation by Softball America and find themselves slotted at No. 20 overall in the NCAA’s latest RPI ranking update Thursday morning. UCF’s RPI rank of 20th overall represents its best mark of the 2026 campaign.

The team travels to Gainesville on the heels of its most recent winning effort Wednesday evening by a 4-1 score over the North Florida Ospreys, boosting the program’s overall record against in-state foes to 6-0 this season and 57-22 in the Cindy Ball-Malone era.

KEY FACTS AND FIGURES

RIVALRY RENEWED – The No. 17 UCF softball team is set to take on one of its biggest tests of the 2026 season this weekend, when the squad will meet the No. 5 Florida Gators in a two-game home-and-home set on back-to-back days in Gainesville and Orlando April 24-25...this spring will mark the second straight that sees the programs meet multiple times in the regular season after the Knights and Gators split their two meetings in 2025...UCF fell by a narrow 3-0 final score in Gainesville in the teams’ first 2025 contest March 12, a game that saw then-freshman right-hander Yessenia Lopez limit Florida to just three runs on four hits with four strikeouts...the Black and Gold bounced back in the teams’ matchup in Orlando March 26, earning a 4-0 victory behind then-redshirt freshman Isabella Vega’s seven-inning shutout and a pair of two-run home runs by Aubrey Evans and Izzy Mertes...in silencing Florida, Vega became the first freshman pitcher since NiJaree Canady during the 2023 NCAA Stanford Regional to throw a seven-inning shutout against the Gators, and the second freshman pitcher in program history to do so, joining UCF Hall-of-Famer Mackenzie Audas (April 11, 2012)...a Friday win would represent UCF’s first victory over the Gators in Gainesville since April 14, 2021.

OUR STATE – The UCF softball team’s weekend two-game set against Florida represents the seventh and eighth matchups for the Knights against an in-state opponent this season...following the Black and Gold’s 4-1 Wednesday win over North Florida, the team saw its 2026 record against in-state opponents improve to 6-0 overall and 57-22 in the Cindy Ball-Malone era, including triumphs over Florida Atlantic, Florida A&M, FIU, FGCU, Stetson and North Florida...through its first six games against in-state opponents this spring, UCF is hitting for a combined .340/.431/.500 (51-for-150) line, accompanied by 12 doubles, three triples, two home runs, 41 RBI, 75 total bases and 24 walks against just eight strikeouts offensively...right-handed pitcher Tori Payne leads the team in innings pitched against in-state foes thus far, having thrown 9.2 innings in such games with a miniscule 0.72 ERA in her three appearances (two starts)...teammates Ava Stuewe (0.00 ERA, 9.1 IP) and Lena Elkins (2.33 ERA, 9.0 IP) have also eclipsed the nine-inning mark against in-state opponents this season, and the staff as a whole has produced a 1.71 ERA in 41 innings with 23 strikeouts and a .205 batting average-against in such games.

RECORD WATCH – A handful of Knights are on pace to finish the 2026 season among the program’s top 10 all-time leaders in many different categories, led most notably by sophomore utility Kendall Yarnell’s chase to break UCF’s single-season slugging percentage record set by Knights Hall-of-Famer Stephanie Best (.840) in 2004; Yarnell enters Friday’s matchup against Florida with an .833 mark, which would represent the second-best single-season slugging percentage in program history...Yarnell’s 14 home runs lead the team through 49 games, and represent the fifth most in a season in program history (Best, 26 in 2005)... sophomore utility Izzy Mertes enters play Friday the owner of 15 doubles through 49 games, just one shy of matching her 2025 freshman season total of 16 and three shy of matching current senior Aubrey Evans’ single-season program record of 18 set in 2023...sophomore catcher Beth Damon has represented a defensive force behind the plate this season, as her 15 runners caught stealing lead the Big 12 Conference and rank fifth most in the nation...with just three more runners caught, Damon would break UCF’s single-season program record of 17 set by Cassady Brewer in 2018...redshirt sophomore right-hander Isabella Vega enters Friday’s contest the owner of five saves this season, good for a share of the most in a single season with Jamie Ujvari (2016); with her next save, Vega would break the program’s single-season record.

THE HOME RUN RECORD FALLS – The UCF softball team saw the latest byproduct of its historic offensive exploits this spring over the weekend series against No. 24 Kansas, as the program broke its all-time single-season home run record with its 58th of the spring...sophomore utility Kendall Yarnell provided the record-breaking long ball in dramatic fashion, clubbing a game-winning, walk-off three-run home run out to dead center field to lift the Knights to their 6-3, eight-inning victory in the series-opener, representing the first walk-off home run of her career and her second career game-winning home run against the Jayhawks...the Black and Gold would later add two more home runs in game two of the series, one by senior shortstop Aubrey Evans and another by Yarnell to push UCF to the 60-home run mark in a single season for the first time in program history...with Yarnell’s two-homer weekend, she now boasts a personal season total of 14, the program’s most in a season by a single player since former Knights standout third baseman/catcher Jada Cody hit 15 in leading the team to the first NCAA Regional host and Super Regional appearance in program history in 2022...four Knights have eclipsed double digit home runs this season overall, in Yarnell (14), sophomore catcher Beth Damon (12), junior second baseman Sierra Humphreys (11), and sophomore utility Izzy Mertes (10), while Evans would join the club with her next home run, as the senior currently sits one shy of notching her second consecutive 10-home run season...Humphreys is also the only player in the Big 12 Conference with multiple streaks of three consecutive games with a home run this season.

ANOTHER RANKED SERIES W – The UCF softball team this weekend earned wins in two of its three contests against the visiting No. 24 Kansas Jayhawks, clinching its fifth overall Big 12 Conference series win this spring and third against a ranked opponent, joining its series wins over then-No. 12 Oklahoma State March 6-8 and then-No. 23 Arizona State April 10-12...the team’s effort against Kansas also represented the first ranked series win at home in program history, as well as its fourth since joining the Big 12 Conference prior to the 2024 season, as the squad began conference play in 2025 with a historic series triumph over then-No. 4 Arizona in Tucson March 7-9...the Knights clinched a regular-season series against the Jayhawks for the third time in as many seasons as well, as the squad now boasts a 7-2 overall record against Kansas since UCF joined the Big 12 Conference prior to 2024.

ISA GOES THE DISTANCE – Redshirt sophomore right-hander Isabella Vega led the Knights to their series-opening 6-3 walk-off win over the No. 24 Jayhawks Friday evening, throwing all eight innings and limiting Kansas’ offense to just three runs on eight hits with five strikeouts in the effort...in doing so, she became the first UCF pitcher since former AAC Pitcher of the Year and current graduate assistant Sarah Willis to throw an extra-inning complete game, when Willis threw a 12-inning masterpiece against the Auburn Tigers in the 2024 NCAA Tallahassee Regional, allowing just two runs on nine hits with seven strikeouts in the final appearance of her collegiate career...Vega on Friday also recorded her 10th complete game of the season in her Friday start, eclipsing double digits in the category for the first time in her career and becoming the first Knight since Willis (2024, 11) to record at least 10 complete games in a single season.

TAKING THE NEXT STEP – The UCF softball team has seen a handful of arms take the next step in proving themselves a reliable complement to staff leader Isabella Vega over the last few weeks, including freshmen Reagan Vokoun and Ava Stuewe and senior Lena Elkins.

• Vokoun on Sunday tossed a team high, and single-game career high, 3.1 scoreless innings in relief of Vega, lowering her overall season ERA to 2.04 through 24 innings spanning 16 appearances (four starts); since and including UCF’s road series sweep at Houston March 27-29, Vokoun boasts a 1.75 ERA in eight innings of work spanning five appearances, having limited her opposition to a teamlow .185 batting average-against in that span.
• Elkins has established herself as one of Ball-Malone’s go-to relief options lately as well, as the second-year Knight has produced a dominant 1.33 ERA in her last 21 innings of work spanning nine appearances (one start) dating back to UCF’s series finale against then-No. 3 Texas Tech March 22; she was responsible for 4.1 scoreless frames in the Knights’ series win over Utah April 2-4, allowed just one run in four innings of relief in the Knights’ 8-1 win at then-No. 23 Arizona State April 11, yielded just three runs in six innings against Stetson April 15, and recently spun 3.2 innings of one hit ball between games two and three against then-No. 24 Kansas April 18-19...Elkins on Wednesday locked down her second save this season, tossing two scoreless frames against North Florida.
• Stuewe earned her first career winning decision over a power four opponent in game two against then-No. 24 Kansas April 18, allowing two runs on four hits in 4.1 innings of work; the outing matched her second-longest in Big 12 Conference play this season, joining her 6.2-inning effort at then-No. 12 Oklahoma State March 7, and her 4.1-inning start against then-No. 3 Texas Tech March 21.

BEATING THE BEST – With UCF’s series win against then-No. 24 Kansas, the Knights added two more top 25 ranked wins to their resume, boosting the squad to 7-9 overall this season against ranked opposition...the Knights’ seven wins against ranked foes have matched the program’s single-season record for ranked wins, last achieved in 2025 when UCF earned seven ranked wins, over then-No. 15 Missouri, then-No. 22 Florida Atlantic, then-No. 4 Arizona twice, then-No. 3 Florida, then-No. 21 Oklahoma State, and then-No. 25 Michigan...UCF in 2025 earned seven ranked wins for the second time in program history, matching the previous mark set by the 2022 Knights en route to the first NCAA Regional host and first NCAA Super Regional appearance in program history...the Black and Gold this season have bested then-No. 10 LSU, then-No. 12 Oklahoma State twice, then-No. 23 Arizona State twice, and then-No. 24 Kansas twice, and can add to that list with wins over No. 5 Florida this weekend.

RESUME BUILDING – With the NCAA’s latest Division I RPI update Thursday, April 23, the UCF softball team remained within the nation’s top 30 at No. 20 overall, setting a new best mark for the season, and the squad pulled in at No. 20 overall in the latest national KPI rankings as well...UCF is the fourth-highest ranked Big 12 Conference squad in the RPI rankings entering play Friday, behind only Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Arizona, and trails only Texas Tech and Arizona in the latest KPI update...UCF’s strength of schedule thus far, rated as the 25th-toughest in the nation overall, pulls in at fourth-strongest among Big 12 programs...the Knights enter play Friday against No. 5 Florida the owners of seven top 25 nationally-ranked wins, against then-No. 10 LSU , two over then-No. 12 Oklahoma State, two over then-No. 23 Arizona State, and two over then-No. 24 Kansas, and own five RPI top 25 wins, in the team’s efforts over LSU (No. 11), Oklahoma State (No. 16) and Arizona State (No. 24)...UCF’s Wednesday win over North Florida pushed the squad up to 25 RPI top 100 wins to accompany its ten RPI top 50 wins, and the squad boasts a sterling 11-0 record against RPI 101+ teams thus far.

PROTECT THE PLEX – The Knights have demonstrated a strong ability to defend their home field under head coach Cindy Ball-Malone, having authored five consecutive seasons with at least 20 wins at the UCF Softball Complex and six such seasons in the first seven (not including the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season) during the Ball-Malone era overall (since and including 2019)...following UCF’s Wednesday win over North Florida, UCF has produced an aggregate 168-63-2 (.725) record at home spanning Ball-Malone’s first seven years...UCF clinched its fifth consecutive 20-win season at home, and sixth such season within Ball-Malone’s first seven (not including the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season), with its series win over Utah, and the team now owns a 25-8-1 record through 34 home games this spring.

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.