No. 19 Softball Set for Top 25 Series in Tempe against No. 23 Arizona StateNo. 19 Softball Set for Top 25 Series in Tempe against No. 23 Arizona State

No. 19 Softball Set for Top 25 Series in Tempe against No. 23 Arizona State

by Ryan Ladika

ORLANDO – Having most recently authored an unbeaten weekend against the Utah Utes in Orlando, the No. 19 UCF softball team is readying for a top 25 series in Tempe against the No. 23 Arizona State Sun Devils.

The Knights went 2-0-1 on the weekend at home against the Utes, outscoring Utah by an aggregate 28-3 in clinching their second straight Big 12 Conference series win and third of the spring. Saturday’s series finale was officially ruled a 2-2 tie after nine innings once the game reached the Utes’ drop-dead time for travel purposes.

The three runs allowed by UCF to Utah also represented the second fewest yielded by a Knights squad in a series since the program joined the Big 12, trailing only the two runs the Black and Gold allowed to the Houston Cougars on the road April 12-14, 2024.

Redshirt sophomore right-hander Isabella Vega once again led her staff throughout the weekend’s action, totaling a team high 10.2 innings of work with a 1.31 ERA and a .225 batting average-against in her three appearances.

She earned the winning decision in both of UCF’s two victories, marking the fifth and sixth straight team games that saw the Bradenton native earn the win. In doing so, Vega became the first UCF pitcher since Alea White in 2019 to earn the winning decision in six consecutive team games after she became the first arm since White to earn the win in all three games of a conference series last weekend.

With one more out recorded, Vega will eclipse 100 innings for the second straight season to begin her collegiate career, and with her 14th win of the season Friday evening, she matched her 2025 season total.

Offensively, the Knights notched two more run-rule wins in the series, and in plating 17 runs in the teams’ series-opener extended their streak of double digit runs scored to four straight games for the first time in program history. UCF’s 17-0 victory Thursday represented the third largest shutout win in program history as well.

Junior second baseman Sierra Humphreys led the offensive charge for her squad, slashing a combined .700/.727/1.300 (7-for-10) with two home runs, five runs scored, eight RBI and 13 total bases in the series. The effort netted the Corona, California native her first career Big 12 Conference Player of the Week honor and UCF’s fourth Big 12 weekly honor of the season.

SB_JR_4207_040226_1944267520Sierra Humphreys, celebration | Photo by: Jon Rose

Senior shortstop Aubrey Evans slugged a pair of home runs in the Knights’ series-opener as well, and Kendall Yarnell added her 11th of the season Thursday evening to tie Beth Damon for the team lead.

UCF’s 54 home runs through 41 games represent the second most in a single season in program history, and with four more would break the program’s single-season home record of 57 set in 2021. With Humphreys’ ninth and 10th home runs of the season over the weekend, she also ensured the Knights four players with double digit home runs in a single season for the first time in program history.

Boasting a 30-10-1 record through its first 41 games, UCF also owns its best mark through the first 41 games of a season since the 2022 Knights went 31-10 en route to hosting the first NCAA Regional in program history.

The Knights can also check another box off their list of items yet to be accomplished this weekend, as with a pair of wins in Tempe UCF would clinch the first Big 12 Conference series win over Arizona State in program history. The Black and Gold earned their first series win over Utah last weekend, leaving Baylor and Arizona State as the last two remaining current Big 12 schools against which they have yet to win a series.

The Sun Devils are off to a similarly strong start to their 2026 campaign, owning a 30-11 mark through their first 41 games following their Tuesday midweek 13-0 win over UTEP. Like the Knights, Arizona State earned a statement ranked series win over then-No. 15 Oklahoma State in Tempe March 13-15, and later added another top 15 triumph over then-No. 11 Arizona in Tucson March 20.

Arizona State enters the series within the nation’s top 30 in RPI, pulling in at No. 27 with Wednesday’s update, and owns 10 RPI top 50 wins and 15 RPI top 100 wins entering the series. By comparison, the Knights, No. 23 in the latest RPI update Wednesday, own five RPI top 50 wins and 17 RPI top 100 wins entering play in Tempe.

Despite UCF’s series loss to Arizona State in Orlando in 2025, then-freshman catcher Beth Damon enjoyed a prolific weekend, highlighted by her 3-for-4, two-home run showing against the Sun Devils in the Knights’ 11-0 run-rule win in game two March 15.

Softball_CK__031525_1553053090Beth Damon, Stormy Kotzelnick, Aubrey Evans, Izzy Mertes, Kendall Yarnell, Ashleigh Griffin, Macy Miles, Taylor Kittleman, Lena Elkins, Destiny Washington | Photo by: Conor Kvatek

Damon drove in seven runs and accrued nine total bases in the effort, representing the second most RBI in a single game in program history. She also slugged her first career grand slam in the winning effort.

First pitch for Friday’s series-opener is set for 9 p.m. ET from Farrington Stadium in Tempe 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.