LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The UCF softball team, fresh off its statement 4-2 win over the No. 9 overall seed Florida State Seminoles in Tallahassee May 17, is set for its next challenge on the road, when the squad will clash with the No. 8 overall seed UCLA Bruins at Easton Stadium in the 2026 NCAA Super Regional round May 22-24.
The Knights, with their 3-1 showing in Tallahassee last weekend, clinched the second Super Regional berth in program history, and the first since 2022. UCF in Tallahassee earned triumphant results over Jacksonville State, Stetson and (9) Florida State, clinching its first NCAA Tournament victory over the Seminoles in program history.
FEELING SUPER – The UCF softball team, for the second time in program history, clinched an NCAA Super Regional berth with its 3-1 showing in the 2026 NCAA Tallahassee Regional...the squad advances to Supers for the first time since the 2022 Knights clinched the first Super Regional berth in program history, sweeping their way through the NCAA Orlando Regional at the UCF Softball Complex...the Knights in Tallahassee this weekend produced the second winning record in an NCAA Regional in program history (also 2022), earning triumphant results against Jacksonville State May 15 (2-1, 8 inn.), Stetson May 16 (10-1, 5 inn.) and the host No. 9 overall seed Florida State May 17 (4-2) to go 3-1 on the weekend, with the squad’s lone defeat coming as a narrow 2-1 affair against the Seminoles in the regional’s game six Sunday afternoon...with the team’s efforts over the weekend, UCF travels across the country to square off against the No. 8 overall seed UCLA Bruins at Easton Stadium in Los Angeles, California.
A NATIONAL SEED FALLS – In punching its ticket to the 2026 NCAA Los Angeles Super Regional, UCF toppled the No. 9 overall seed Florida State Seminoles in the regional’s winner-take-all Game 7 Sunday afternoon by a 4-2 final score...the Knights joined the Arizona State Sun Devils and St. Mary’s Gaels as the third team in this year’s tournament field to eliminate one of the top 16 national seeds, as ASU knocked off the No. 15 overall seed Texas A&M Aggies, and the No. 14 overall seed Oregon Ducks’ season was ended by the Gaels in Eugene...the Knights’ victory over Florida State represented the program’s first win over the Seminoles in the NCAA Tournament, the sixth win over Florida State overall in program history, the team’s third win over the Seminoles in Tallahassee, and its first win against Florida State since April 6, 2011...the Knights’ victory over Florida State also represented the third win over a national seed in the NCAA Tournament in program history, joining the team’s efforts against the No. 13 overall seed Florida Gators in 2005 (5-3 final score) and again over the Gators, this time with Florida as the No. 1 overall seed, in 2008 (1-0 final score)...the Knights’ Sunday win over the Seminoles snapped a 16-game losing streak to Florida State overall dating back to 2011.
TORI’S TIME – Freshman right-hander Tori Payne produced the biggest outing of her young collegiate career during the weekend in Tallahassee, leading UCF to its statement 4-2 win over the No. 9 overall seed Florida State Seminoles that clinched the second Super Regional berth in program history and eliminated the host Seminoles...the freshman totaled six innings of one-run ball in the winning effort, allowing just four hits throughout the afternoon...in doing, so, Payne became the third pitcher in the nation this season to record at least six innings pitched while yielding one or fewer runs in a game against Florida State, joining Alabama’s Vic Moten (7 IP, 0 R) Feb. 20 and Jocelyn Briski (7 IP, 1 R) Feb. 21...the effort represented the eighth start and 18th appearance of Payne’s career, and her six innings marked a new single-game career high.
COCO KEEPS HITTING – Sophomore third baseman Coco Jaimes last season established herself as one of the Knights’ leading postseason offensive performers, hitting safely in all four games during the NCAA Austin Regional with a .667/.692/.917 (8-for-12) slashline accompanied by three runs scored, one home run, four RBI, 11 total bases and one walk...during last weekend’s NCAA Tallahassee Regional, Jaimes hit safely in two of UCF’s four contests, highlighted by her third career three-hit NCAA Tournament game, coming against Jacksonville State May 15...she notched her first career walk-off hit in the bottom of the eighth inning against the Gamecocks, and also went 1-for-3 in UCF’s first matchup against the Seminoles May 17...through her first eight career NCAA Tournament showings, Jaimes has gone 12-for-24 (.500) with three three-hit games, one home run, four runs scored, five RBI, 15 total bases and two walks.
LIGHT TOWER POWER – The UCF softball team hit four more home runs throughout its weekend in Tallahassee, pushing its program record season total up to 71 entering play in Los Angeles this weekend...senior shortstop Aubrey Evans hit her second career grand slam and sophomore utility Kendall Yarnell hit her 15th long ball of the year in the Knights’ 10-1 run-rule win over Stetson May 16, and sophomores Beth Damon and Izzy Mertes powered the Knights to their 4-2 win over No. 9 overall seed Florida State May 17 with a pair of two-run home runs...Yarnell, Evans and Damon each recorded their respective first career NCAA Tournament home runs, while Evans and Damon both notched their respective second career postseason home runs; Evans hit her first career postseason home run in UCF’s 4-3 loss to second-seeded Arizona in the second round of the 2025 Big 12 Conference Tournament, while Damon hit her first career postseason home run against fifth-seeded Kansas in the first round of the 2026 Big 12 Conference Tournament...Mertes, meanwhile, hit her second career NCAA Tournament home run after previously going yard in UCF’s 10-8 win over then-No. 25 Michigan during the 2025 NCAA Austin Regional May 17.
ISA STIFLES THE SEMINOLES – Though the Knights were edged in their first matchup during Sunday’s regional final against No. 9 overall seeded Florida State, redshirt sophomore Isabella Vega still produced one of the more dominant showings of her two-year career in the loss...the Bradenton, Florida, native tossed a six-inning complete game, limiting Florida State to just two runs on three hits with four strikeouts...in doing so, Vega produced just the fourth game this season that saw Florida State muster three or fewer hits, joining the efforts made by Virginia Tech May 9, FGCU Feb. 26, and Alabama Feb. 20...the effort marked her 12th complete game overall and sixth against a ranked opponent this year, as Vega has now totaled 60.1 innings with a 3.25 ERA and a .213 batting average-against in 13 appearances (10 starts) against ranked opposition in 2026.
BATTLING THE BRUINS – The UCF softball team this weekend is in search of the first win in program history against the UCLA Bruins...the team most recently matched up against UCLA during the 2023 Judi Garman Classic hosted by Cal State Fullerton March 3, 2023, a contest that saw the Bruins edge UCF by a narrow 2-1 final score...then-junior right-hander Grace Jewell produced a dominant performance in the circle, limiting the Bruins to just two runs on five hits with four strikeouts in 6.1 innings of work, while then-senior shortstop Jas Williams hit her second home run of the season in the top of the sixth inning, a long ball that, at the time, tied the game at one run apiece before UCLA earned a walk-off win on a seventh-inning RBI single by shortstop Maya Brady...this weekend’s NCAA Los Angeles Super Regional represents the first NCAA Tournament meetings between UCF and UCLA.
POSTSEASON PEDIGREE – The UCF softball team was selected for the 13th NCAA Tournament bid in program history on Selection Sunday May 10, extending its program record consecutive selections to six dating back to the 2021 campaign...with its trip to Tallahassee last weekend, UCF began its postseason journey at the home of the Florida State Seminoles for the third time in the last four seasons, fourth time in the last six years, and the fifth time overall...with their sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament selection, the Knights represent one of 20 programs in the nation to have made appearances in each of the last six NCAA Softball Tournaments, joining Texas A&M, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, Florida State, Washington, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Oklahoma State, Florida, Duke, Georgia, Clemson, Texas, Tennessee, LSU, Alabama, Virginia Tech and Oklahoma...the Knights brought an overall 38-16-1 record into postseason play, including a 14-9-1 mark in Big 12 Conference play, and enter play in Los Angeles this weekend with an overall 41-17-1 record; UCF’s 41 overall wins and 14 Big 12 Conference victories both represent program season bests since the team joined the Big 12 prior to the 2024 campaign, and with three weekend wins in Tallahassee, the Black and Gold clinched their first 40-win season since 2023 and their first 40-plus-win season since joining the Big 12 Conference prior to the 2024 campaign...with just 17 defeats on the season, UCF would also finish the year with fewer than 20 losses for the first time since the 2022 slate (49-14) if the squad is eliminated this weekend.
BATTLE-TESTED – Of the Knights’ 59 games so far this spring, 14 came against eventual 2026 conference regular-season (RS) or tournament (T) champions, as the team has matched up against each of Texas Tech (Big 12 RS), Florida State (ACC RS&T), Arizona State (Big 12 T), Nebraska (B1G RS&T), Boston U (Patriot League RS&T), Wagner (NEC T), Florida A&M (SWAC RS&T), Jacksonville State (CUSA RS&T), and Stetson (ASUN RS&T)...UCF’s regular season resume features five wins over RPI top 25 teams, 10 wins over RPI top 50 teams, 27 RPI top 100 wins, and a perfect 11-0 record against RPI 101+ teams...the Knights also entered NCAA Tournament action having played the 22nd-toughest overall schedule in the nation as rated by the NCAA’s metrics, as well as the fourth-toughest schedule among Big 12 teams, behind only Baylor (10th overall), Arizona (16th) and Oklahoma State (18th).
ROAD WARRIORS – The Knights’ most recent showing throughout the 2026 NCAA Tallahassee Regional represented the latest in a recent trend of excellence away from Orlando for the squad, as the UCF softball team enters play in Los Angeles this weekend the owner of a 16-8 overall record in games away from its home field at the UCF Softball Complex this spring...the Knights this season have earned wins on the road over each of No. 7 Florida State, then-No. 10 LSU, then-No. 12 Oklahoma State twice, and then-No. 23 Arizona State twice, among others, and they have also won each of their last six road Big 12 Conference series dating back to their series win over BYU in Provo, Utah, April 10-12, 2025...in that span, the program has earned road conference series wins over BYU, Kansas (May 2-4, 2025), then-No. 12 Oklahoma State (March 6-8, 2026), Houston (March 27-29, 2026), then-No. 23 Arizona State (April 10-12, 2026), and Iowa State (May 1-3, 2026)...since joining the Big 12 Conference prior to the 2024 season, the Knights own a 24-15 (.615) all-time record in road conference games and have now won 10 total away series in that span, toppling Texas Tech, Houston and Iowa State in 2024, Arizona, BYU and Kansas in 2025, and Oklahoma State, Houston, Arizona State and Iowa State in 2026, all on the road...entering play in Los Angeles this weekend, UCF is hitting for an aggregate .327/.413/.564 line in its 24 games away from home, accompanied by a .977 OPS, 149 runs scored, 28 doubles, 3 triples, 40 home runs, 139 RBI, 366 total bases, and 86 walks...in the circle, Knights pitchers have combined for a 3.54 ERA in 156.1 innings on the road, limiting opposing hitters to a .232 batting average-against.
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.