AMES, Iowa – Having produced record-setting offensive production throughout the 2026 campaign, it seems only fitting that the No. 21 UCF softball team put a bow on the regular season with another prolific display at the plate.
A three-homer, 12-run effort led the Knights over the Iowa State Cyclones, 12-4, in the teams’ Sunday afternoon series finale at the Cyclone Sports Complex, clinching the series and the No. 4 seed in next week’s Big 12 Conference Tournament in Oklahoma City.
The Black and Gold, having taken two out of three from the Cyclones over the weekend, finished the regular season with a 38-15-1 overall record, including a 14-9-1 mark in Big 12 Conference play, and wins in six of their eight 2026 conference series.
In producing its 38 wins overall, UCF added on to its season best in the program’s Big 12 era, and the squad’s 14 wins in conference play also represented a new season high since the Knights joined the league prior to the 2024 campaign, clinching the first winning record in Big 12 Conference play in program history.
“We’ve been getting a lot more experienced in this league; obviously this team has more experience than it did last year, and then building off of two years ago when we first joined the conference,” said senior shortstop Aubrey Evans. “We’re going to continue to build off of what the coaching staff tells us, and in the strength and conditioning department as well, and it’s showing up too on the field.”
In recording 14 hits Sunday, the Knights eclipsed double digit hits for the third straight game against Iowa State, and as a team hit for an aggregate .419/.481/.677 line with 29 runs scored, six home runs and 63 total bases.
It culminated in a Sunday series finale that saw eight starters hit safely, including multi-hit games by Sierra Humphreys, Coco Jaimes, Ashleigh Griffin and Samantha Rey, as well as home runs by Humphreys, Evans and Beth Damon.
UCF boasts 66 home runs through 54 games this spring, extending the program’s new single-season record, and on Sunday recorded the second three-homer game of the series, as well as the team’s 15th multi-home run game of the year.
The Knights exploded for five runs in the contest’s opening frame, on the strength of the long balls slugged by Evans, Damon and Humphreys. Evans’ leadoff home run represented her 10th of the season, giving the program its fifth Knight this year with at least 10 home runs, as well as Evans’ second consecutive 10-homer campaign. Damon and Humphreys, meanwhile, swatted their respective 14th and 13th home runs of the year.
“What we did as an offense in the seventh inning yesterday, we talked a lot about that postgame and how we should have that mentality all the time,” Evans continued. “We wanted to carry that over into today, and continue passing the bat and trusting in our teammates behind us to get the job done. It showed today in that first inning.”
Iowa State struck for three of its own in the home half of the frame, but the Knights limited the damage and continued their offensive march, scoring four more times in the third and fourth innings to widen their advantage to 9-3.
Griffin executed a squeeze play to perfection in the top of the third inning, plating Humphreys while beating the bunt out at first base for a hit of her own, and third baseman Coco Jaimes continued adding on with a two-run triple in the fourth, representing her second three-bagger of the season. Griffin later added her second run-scoring hit in as many innings to conclude UCF’s three-run fourth.
All the while, a pair of freshman arms in the circle combined to stifle the Cyclones throughout the afternoon. Southpaw Reagan Vokoun bounced back after yielding three runs in the first inning, spinning a spotless second, before right-hander Tori Payne was summoned by head coach Cindy Ball-Malone in the third inning.
Payne took control of the affairs for the remainder of the contest, allowing just one Cyclone score on four hits in four innings of work just hours after she contributed a pair of scoreless innings in starting Saturday’s contest.
Overall, the freshman totaled six innings of one-run ball in the series, limiting her opposition to a .190 batting average-against while collecting her third winning decision of the spring.
“Just trusting their stuff and attacking the zone has been key for them,” Evans said of Vokoun and Payne. “When all of our pitchers do that, really good things happen. Knowing what to do in certain situations and executing that, they’re ground ball pitchers, and they’re getting ground balls with good defense behind them.”
The Knights plated the final three runs they needed in the top of the sixth inning to end the affairs in run-rule fashion, courtesy of a steal of home by Izzy Mertes and a two-run single by Samantha Rey.
Having secured a fourth-place finish in the Big 12 regular-season standings, the fourth-seeded Knights now look ahead to the 2026 Big 12 Conference Tournament in Oklahoma City, where the team will first square off against fifth-seeded Kansas in the tournament’s opening contest Thursday morning. First pitch is set for 12 p.m. ET from Devon Park 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.