UCF Knights Softball: A Legacy of Excellence and Growth

The UCF Knights softball program has established itself as a force in collegiate softball since its inception in 2002. Representing the University of Central Florida, the Knights compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Big 12 Conference. This article delves into the program's history, notable achievements, key figures, and its current standing.

Program Foundation and Early Years

The UCF softball program was founded in 2002 under the leadership of Renee Luers-Gillispie. The Knights played their first games on February 2, 2002, losing their first contest 2-3 to Bethune-Cookman, and winning their second game against Arkansas, 6-5, marking the program's first victory. The team initially competed in the Atlantic Sun Conference (now known as the ASUN Conference) for its first four seasons.

Memorable Early Wins

The program's early years were marked by several memorable wins:

First Win (February 2, 2002 vs. Arkansas): Sarah Miller's bases-clearing triple in the first inning propelled UCF to a 6-5 victory over Arkansas. Dottie Cupp earned the win in relief of Pysha Simmons.
First No-Hitter (February 2, 2003 vs. Morris Brown): Pysha Simmons threw the program’s first no-hitter, and to date, the only perfect game thrown by any UCF pitcher in program history, as UCF blows out Morris Brown, 24-0. Catcher Jen Whitley had four hits with five RBI, while Rachelle Schmidt added 4 RBI.
Stephanie Best's Record-Breaking Day (March 9, 2003 vs. Army): Stephanie Best etched her name in the NCAA record books by hitting two grand slams in the second inning alone, tying the NCAA record for most grand slams in an inning and most grand slams in a game. Best ended up with 11 RBI, which is still an NCAA record, as UCF beat Army 19-2.
100th Win (March 7, 2004 vs. Maine): Stephanie Best went 4-for-4, while Lindsay Enders pitched a one-hitter, striking out nine, as UCF beat Maine 4-0.
First Ranked Win (February 12, 2005 vs. #8 Washington): UCF secured its first-ever win against a ranked team, defeating #8 Washington 1-0, with Lindsay Enders pitching a shutout and Stephanie Best hitting a solo home run in the sixth inning.

Atlantic Sun Conference Success

In 2005, UCF overcame its long-time rival, Florida Atlantic University (FAU), to win its first-ever conference championship. Bryttani Lindheim's walk-off RBI hit secured a 3-2 win over FAU in the A-Sun Championship. The Knights then swept Troy in the championship game, winning 3-1 behind A-Sun Tournament MVP Lindsay Enders, marking their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

First NCAA Tournament Win (May 21, 2005 at #13 Florida): UCF secured its first NCAA Tournament win, eliminating the Gators 5-3, with Stephanie Best going 3-for-4 with 2 RBI.

The Move to the UCF Softball Complex and Conference USA Era

A significant milestone for the program was the opening of the UCF Softball Complex on March 14, 2006. The Knights celebrated the occasion with two victories that day, defeating Marshall 10-9 and Furman 7-3.

Read also: Comprehensive NCAA Softball Guide

Conference USA Championship

In 2008, under Gillespie's continued guidance, the Knights clinched their second conference tournament championship, their first in C-USA, and earned their second berth in the NCAA tournament by defeating #9 Houston. A notable highlight during the tournament was UCF's 1-0 victory over #1 Florida.

Allison Kime's Dominance: Allison Kime was a standout player during this era, achieving several milestones, including striking out a school-record 18 batters in 12 shutout innings against Florida State on March 38, 2007 and breaking the school record for career strikeouts on April 4, 2007.
200th Win (February 24, 2007 vs. George Mason): Kacie Feaster had 3 hits and freshman pitcher Ashleigh Cole helped her own cause with 2 hits and an RBI while pitching a 6-hit shutout for the program’s 200th win.
209th Win (March 15, 2007 vs. Bethune Cookman): UCF scored 17 runs in the 1st inning, which is 2nd-most runs scored in one inning in NCAA history, as the Knights run-ruled Bethune Cookman 18-2 in 5 innings. Cici Alvarez stole her 75th career base, passing Jania Shinhoster for most in UCF history.
228th Win (May 10, 2007 vs. Marshall): For the first time in program history, UCF hosted a conference tournament. UCF would make it all the way to C-USA semifinals.
245th Win (March 9, 2008 vs. East Carolina): On the verge of getting swept and trailing 4-0 in the bottom of the 5th, the UCF offense came to life, scoring 4 runs in the 5th and 6 runs in the 6th to pick up a 10-6 win that would turn around the season and kick-start UCF’s run in 2008. UCF would 34-8 the rest of the way after this come-from-behind win.
262nd Win (April 6, 2008 vs. #9 Houston): Allison Kime went 3 for 3 at the plate, with a HR off her rival Angel Shamblin, and pitched 6 innings to give UCF its first ever win over #9 Houston, 6-4.
275th Win (May 10, 2008 at # 9 Houston): Tiffany Lane’s 2-run Homer in the top of 6th would help give UCF the Conference USA Championship with a 4-2 win over #9 Houston. Allison Kime would get the best of her arch-rival Angel Shamblin in their final meeting after a 3-year rivalry.
278th Win (May 18, 2008 at #1 Florida): Allison Kime’s walk-off hit in the bottom of 8th scored Tiffany Lane to give UCF a 1-0 win to advance to the final game of the Gainesville Regional. The win ended #1 Florida’s 36-game overall winning streak and 41-game home winnign streak. UCF was only team to beat Florida that season in Gainesville.

American Athletic Conference Era

UCF continued its success after joining the American Athletic Conference.

Milestones and Achievements

300th Win (March 19, 2009 at Houston): On her birthday, Abby McClain went 2 for 2 including a home run as Kristina DeMello picked up the win, going 7 innings, as UCF beat Houston 3-1.
392nd win (April 11, 2012 vs. #3 Florida): Freshman Mackenzie Audas dominated the Gators, throwing a 2-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts as UCF knocked off Florida 2-0.
400th win (April 29, 2012 vs. Houston): Winning pitcher Ali Schimdt completes UCF’s sweep of Houston on Senior Weekend.
401st win (May 1, 2012 at Bethune Cookman): Mackenzie Audas throws her 1st career no-hitter as UCF beats Bethune Cookman, 4-0.
448th win (March 12, 2014 vs. Florida Atlantic): Renee Luers-Gillispie picks up her career win 700th win as Shelby Turnier shuts out the Owls 2-0.
453rd win (March 22, 2014 vs. Memphis): In UCF’s first game as member of the American Athletic Conference, Shelby Turnier throws her first career no-hitter as UCF beats Memphis 1-0.

Conference Championships

The Knights secured consecutive American Athletic Conference regular-season titles in 2014 and 2015. They clinched their first-ever regular-season conference title in 2014 with a 3-0 win at UConn. In 2015, they repeated as champions with a 6-1 win at Memphis. The team also won the American Athletic Conference Championship in 2014 and 2015.

469th win (May 3, 2014 at UConn): The Knights clinched the program’s first ever regular season conference title, clinching The American with a 3-0 win at UConn.
522nd win (May 9, 2015 vs. Tulsa): Samantha McCloskey’s walk-off home run in the bottom of 7th gives the Knights the American Athletic Conference Championship over Tulsa.

Key Players and Records

During this period, several players achieved significant milestones:

Mackenzie Audas: Became the Knights’ all-time leader in career strikeouts, passing Allison Kime.
Shelby Turnier: Broke the UCF record for most strikeouts in a 7-inning game with 16 in 2014. Threw multiple no-hitters, joining Mackenzie Audas and Allison Kime. Became UCF’s all-time winningest pitcher in 2016.
Kahley Novak: Stole 2nd base to give herself sole possession of the UCF career record with 103 thefts in 2015.
500th win (March 14, 2015 vs. Illinois-Chicago): A day after the previous record-breaking day, the Shake and Bake combo of Audas and Turnier combine to give the Knights their 500th program win, defeating UIC 2-1.
524th win (May 16, 2015 vs. South Carolina): The Knights pick up a school record 50th win in the season, breaking the 2008 team’s mark of 49 wins. The Knights won 5-2 behind a complete game from MacKenzie Audas, who picked up career win #78 in what turned out to be her final career start, to send the Knights to the regional final.
527th win (February 12, 2016 vs. Alabama): In the first ever game at the UCF Softball Complex between two top 25 teams, #17 UCF knocks off #5 Alabama 8-1 in front of a sold-out crowd. Courtney Rotton went 4/4 with 5 RBI while Shelby Turnier struck out 9 in the win.
548th win (April 1, 2016 at UConn): Shelby Turnier became the third UCF pitcher ever to have 70 or more career wins with her 21st career shutout which also moved her to third place all-time at UCF in that category as the Knights won 1-0, giving Renee Luers-Gillispie her 800th career win.
561st win (May 20, 2016 vs. Florida Atlantic): In a great pitching duel, Shelby Turnier out-dueled her high school and college rival Kylee Hanson as a Jasmine Acevedo home run was all Turnier would need to pick up her 80th career win. Turnier became just the 2nd UCF pitcher to throw a shutout in the NCAA Tournament, joining Allison Kime, who did it in the 2008 regional final against Florida.
562nd win (May 21, 2016 vs. Florida Atlantic): Jessica Ujvari’s walk off home run in the bottom of the 8th sent the Knights to their third straight regional final, knocking off Florida Atlantic 2-1 in 8 innings. Jessica’s twin sister Jamie Ujvari got the win, going all 8 innings.
585th win (April 16, 2017 vs. USF): Kyra Klarkowski’s walk off hit in the bottom of the 9th gives UCF the War on I-4 series win over the Bulls.

Cindy Ball-Malone Era

Cindy Ball-Malone is in her 7th season with UCF. Ball-Malone has a new staff behind her this season, with Shannon Saile getting promoted to assistant coach after two seasons as a graduate assistant, Noah Sanders arriving from the Little Rock baseball team and Stacie Pestrak arriving after nine seasons at Oklahoma State.

2024 Season

The 2024 season was a transition year for UCF, marking the departure of 11 seniors and the program's final season in the Big 12 with Oklahoma and Texas. Despite an increased difficulty in their conference slate, the Knights remained competitive, losing 11 games to Big 12 opponents by two runs or less and maintaining a high national reputation, earning a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

2025 Season Preview

The Knights were picked 7th in the Big 12 preseason coaches poll, projected to match their fifth-place finish from the 2024 season, accounting for just returning teams. The additions of Arizona and Utah have pushed a youth-heavy Knights squad to seventh.

Players to Watch

RHP Kaitlyn Felton: The senior enters 2025 as the leader of a young pitching staff.
2B/SS Aubrey Evans: The Apopka native will play at 2nd base and shortstop.
3B Sierra Humphreys: Humphreys will likely start most of year at third base, taking over for Jada Cody.
2B/CF Samantha Rey: Rey will play in the infield and outfield and likely be at the top of the order.
OF/2B Stormy Kotzelnick: Kotzelnick will likely spend most of the year starting in the outfield.
C/1B Ashleigh Griffin: In her comeback 2024 season, she started 37 games, hitting eight doubles and five home runs.

Newcomers

RHP Yessenia Lopez: The highest-rated pitching recruit in UCF softball history.
C Beth Damon: Damon represents the highest-ranked recruit in UCF’s 2025 class.
INF Coco Jaimes: Look for her to play in the middle infield, with the possibility of some action in right field.
OF Madi Simon: Simon brings experience to the roster having been to the Women’s College World Series in 2022.

2025 Season

The Knights finished the 2025 campaign with a 35-24-1 final record, earning the program’s fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament bid and the 12th in program history on the strength of a national RPI slot of 30. The team’s 35-win season ensured the program its seventh straight 30-plus-win slate dating back to 2018, excluding the COVID-19-shortened 2020 year, as well as its fourth 35-win campaign in the last five years under head coach Cindy Ball-Malone.

UCF’s seventh-year head coach also eclipsed a pair of personal milestones, accruing the 250th win of her Knights tenure and the 350th win of her Division I head coaching career with the team’s NCAA Austin Regional wins over Eastern Illinois and No. UCF bested then-No. 3 Florida, then-No. 4 Arizona twice, then-No. 15 Missouri, then-No. 21 Oklahoma State, then-No. 22 Florida Atlantic, and then-No. The Black and Gold earned five wins over RPI 1-25 programs as well, according to the NCAA’s final release through selection Sunday, toppling Florida (No. 2), Arizona twice (No. 12), Clemson (No. 13), and Oklahoma State (No. Nine of the program’s wins came against 2025 NCAA Tournament teams, highlighted by the Knights’ 6-4 win over a Clemson squad that won the ACC Tournament and advanced as far as the Super Regional round, and their 4-0 shutout of then-No. Boasting a 33-22-1 record upon the conclusion of play in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Tournament, the Knights earned their fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament berth and 12th in program history.

UCF’s ticket to the NCAA Austin Regional sent the Knights out-of-state for regional play for the first time in program history, joining then-No. 25 Michigan and Eastern Illinois in heading to the home of the No. Led by Stormy Kotzelnick’s 4-for-4, three-RBI showing, a display that tied a program single-game tournament record in hits, the Black and Gold cruised to their run-rule win over Eastern Illinois. Four innings of one-run ball in relief by Isabella Vega clinched UCF’s 10-8 win, sending the Knights to a Sunday Regional Final appearance against the sixth overall seeded No. For the first time since the 2022 season, the Knights garnered individual post-season All-America recognition. The two became the third and fourth players in program history to earn national All-America status, joining Jada Cody (D1Softball First Team, Softball America Second Team, 2022) and UCF Hall-of-Famer Shelby Turnier (NFCA, 2015).

Read also: Navigating NCAA Softball Careers

Isabella Vega earned NFCA All-Gulf Region First Team honors, All-Big 12 First Team recognition, and unanimous All-Big 12 Freshman Team recognition, and was joined by junior shortstop Aubrey Evans and sophomore third baseman Sierra Humphreys on the All-Big 12 Conference Second Team, as well as Beth Damon and Izzy Mertes on the All-Big 12 Freshman Team. UCF’s leading hitter throughout the regular season, she authored a single-season career-best 23-game on-base streak from Feb. Mertes proved worthy of the Softball America four-star status she brought with her entering her first collegiate season. Her 30 free passes and 16 doubles both lead the team, with the latter threatening teammate Aubrey Evans’ 2023 program single-season doubles record of 18. In those seven contests alone, the Black and Gold recorded the largest comeback win against a ranked opponent in program history, the highest-ranked series win in program history, their sixth consecutive shutout win over an in-state foe, a shutout over a top-three ranked opponent, and a postseason rivalry-renewing win.

Key Games

February 11 vs Missouri: Mired in a 5-0 first-inning deficit in the team’s seventh game of the year against a Missouri Tigers team ranked No. 15 in the nation Feb. A walk-off double in the eighth inning by first-year Knight and fifth-year outfielder Madison Simon completed the comeback, giving her team its first ranked win since 2023 and the largest comeback win against a ranked foe in the history of the program.
February 16 vs Florida Atlantic: Facing the Owls for the first time since edging out a hard-fought 1-0 win in Orlando in 2024, a trio of Knights pitchers combined to blank Florida Atlantic for the sixth consecutive meeting between the two programs, this time in Boca Raton Feb. Freshman right-hander Yessenia Lopez allowed just three hits in two scoreless frames to begin the evening’s affairs before giving way to Isabella Vega, who recorded 2.1 spotless innings in relief to earn her second winning decision of the spring. UCF plated its three runs by way of Beth Damon’s first career home run in the top of the second inning and third-inning hits by Stormy Kotzelnick (RBI single) and Mertes (RBI double).
February 22 vs Arizona: UCF’s two wins clinched the highest-ranked series win in program history and pushed the team’s all-time record against Arizona to 3-2, including a 3-1 mark under head coach Cindy Ball-Malone. The Wildcats enjoyed a fast start in game two, scoring in each of the first three innings, but more late offense produced by the Knights, highlighted by home runs by Aubrey Evans and Ashleigh Griffin bolstered a dominant relief effort by Felton that saw her yield just one unearned run on three hits in 3.1 innings to seal the series win.
March 26 vs Florida: The Knights hosted their in-state rival No. Vega became the second freshman in program history to throw a seven-inning complete game shutout against Florida, as well as the first freshman of any team since 2023 to do so, as the Black and Gold earned their third top four-ranked win of the spring. Vega's seven-inning shutout factored into a week during which she would total 17 innings with just one run allowed accompanied by 18 strikeouts with two more dominant outings against the Baylor Bears, netting the redshirt freshman her first career Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week and D1Softball National Freshman of the Week honors.
April 27 vs Houston: The Knights sent 15 batters to the plate in scoring nine times in the home half of the first, drawing six walks, taking a pair of hit-by-pitches and recording a trio of hits that were highlighted by the first grand slam of Aubrey Evans’ career, and UCF’s second grand slam of the season. UCF’s nine-run first marked the program’s highest-scoring single inning since Feb. 21, 2020, when the program plated nine in the bottom of the third in a 10-1 win over then-No. Eight of the Knights’ nine starters reached base safely at least once in the contest, let by Evans’ 2-for-3, 4 RBI showing, and Kaitlyn Felton spun a seven-inning complete game in helping lift the Black and Gold to their sixth ranked win of the year.
May 17 vs Michigan: UCF’s single-season program record-tying seventh ranked win of the year came in its penultimate game of the season, when the squad outlasted then-No. 25 Michigan in a 10-8 slugfest during the NCAA Austin Regional. Isabella Vega spun four innings of one-run ball in relief to clinch UCF’s 35th win of the season and send her team to a Sunday regional final date with the sixth-seeded No.

Comeback Wins

The Knights demonstrated resilience throughout the season, securing multiple comeback victories. A late-inning 2-1 deficit quickly snowballed the other direction and resulted in a 10-2 run-rule victory over Houston in the program’s home finale, and UCF would later erase a pair of three-plus-run holes en route to a three-game series sweep on the road at Kansas May 2-4. The Knights’ ninth comeback win of the year came in their final victory, when the team entered the fifth inning against then-No. 25 Michigan trailing 8-7 during the NCAA Austin Regional.

No-Hitters

The UCF softball team continued its tradition of excellence in pitching, throwing multiple no-hitters in a single season for the fourth consecutive year. The first, authored by senior right-hander Kaitlyn Felton, kicked off the Knights’ second home tournament of the season against Quinnipiac Feb. 20. Vega walked just one in her appearance and recorded four strikeouts as the Knights rolled to a 7-0 victory.

Traditions and Fan Engagement

Tailgating before Knights football games is one of the most celebrated traditions at UCF. It offers a special time for reunions of family, friends, and alumni. UCF is pleased to host these gatherings and welcome all of our guests to campus. Whether you’re attending your first Knights game or have been a longtime season ticket holder, there’s a lot to know about game day on campus. Protecting campus is the UCF Police Department’s top priority, so if you see activity that looks suspicious, say something. From the first kickoff on a converted cow pasture to buzzer-beater shots, grand slams and championship cheer routines, UCF Knights have been building momentum on the field and the court since our athletic debut.

Charge On Fund

The Charge On Fund is your way to provide unrestricted charitable support for UCF Athletics and maintain the significant momentum built over the past years.

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