Softball Splits Day One in Clearwater with Northwestern, No. 17 Georgia – UCF Athletics

ORLANDO – The UCF softball workforce earned a break up of its first day of the 2026 Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational Friday afternoon, besting the Northwestern Wildcats, 6-4, earlier than falling in sport two to the No. 17 Georgia Bulldogs, 13-5.

Despite the Knights’ defeat by the hands of the Bulldogs, UCF boasts a 7-2 begin to the 2026 spring marketing campaign coming into day two of the Clearwater Invitational, representing this system’s greatest begin since its 7-2 begin in 2021.

UCF started play in Clearwater Friday with a scorching begin in opposition to the Wildcats, scoring 4 occasions within the dwelling half of the primary inning to take an early 4-0 benefit.

Aubrey Evans and Izzy Mertes slugged back-to-back one-out doubles to interrupt the ice, and junior third baseman Sierra Humphreys later continued her torrid begin to the spring slate with a three-run dwelling run to right-center discipline.

The effort marked Humphreys’ third consecutive sport with a house run, tying her 2025 season greatest together with her fourth general, and ensured that the second baseman would hit safely and drive in a minimum of one run in every of the Knights’ first eight video games of the season. Following the conclusion of play Friday, Humphreys boasted a .565/.607/1.304 line with eight extra-base hits, 30 complete bases, 14 RBI and 11 runs scored.

The Black and Gold then drew up a response to a second-inning Wildcats rating with two extra runs of their half of the body, courtesy of an Ashleigh Griffin run-scoring single and a sacrifice fly by Humphreys, giving the Corona, California, native a season excessive 4 RBI and her first four-RBI sport since her debut 2024 season.

UCF’s pitching employees made the quick offensive begin stand, withstanding three extra Wildcat runs over the subsequent two innings to clinch its two-run victory. Freshman left-hander Hildie Dempsey, making her first collegiate begin and her sixth look of the yr general, yielded only one earned run over three innings earlier than giving approach for redshirt sophomore Isabella Vega, who fanned six over the remaining 4 frames.

The Knights once more loved a quick offensive begin in opposition to the Bulldogs to start a back-and-forth affair in sport two of their Friday twin invoice.

UCF pushed throughout a pair within the dwelling half of the primary inning on a Coco Jaimes bases-loaded stroll and a Beth Damon hit-by-pitch, once more with the bases loaded, earlier than tallying three extra within the second on a Kendall Yarnell RBI double and a two-run dwelling run by senior shortstop Aubrey Evans.

Evans’ lengthy ball, her second of the spring, gave the Knights a minimum of one dwelling run in 4 consecutive video games and pushed the workforce’s complete to 13 via 9 contests, its most via the primary 9 video games of a season since 2023.

Georgia struck again with an eight-run fourth inning, although, breaking the sport open handy UCF its second defeat of the spring.

UP NEXT
UCF faces two extra powerful checks on day two in Clearwater, dealing with off in opposition to No. 10 LSU and No. 8 Nebraska Saturday afternoon. First pitch in opposition to the Tigers is about for 10 a.m. and will probably be streamed dwell on the SEC Network.

ABOUT UCF ATHLETICS
UCF is a proud member of the Big 12 Conference. Our mission is to positively rework the lives of our college students academically, athletically, and personally via a nationally aggressive intercollegiate athletics program that enhances the fame and visibility of the University. We try to be Florida’s preeminent athletic program, representing UCF and our group with distinction on the nationwide stage as “Orlando’s Hometown Team”. To be taught extra about UCF and Athletics, please go to our web sites at www.ucf.edu and www.ucfknights.com.