GAINESVILLE — The No. 21 UCF softball team received a strong start from true freshman Yessenia Lopez in the circle, but the team fell in its Wednesday evening tilt to the No. 3 Florida Gators, 3-0, at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
Lopez, tabbed for her 16th appearance and 10th start by head coach Cindy Ball-Malone, impressed in her third consecutive outing against a top-five ranked opponent.
Against a Gators offense that entered the contest leading the nation in total hits (275), home runs (56), RBI (236), slugging percentage (.707) and total runs scored (252), Lopez surrendered just three runs on four hits in her third appearance of at least six innings this spring.
Florida took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second on a Jocelyn Erickson solo home run, and an inning later added a second solo shot courtesy of Kendra Falby, who also drive in the third run in the fifth inning.
Offensively, UCF was quieted by Florida starter Kara Hammock, producing singles from Aubrey Evans and Ashleigh Griffin and a Samantha Rey double through the contest’s first six innings. The Knights staged a late two-out comeback bid in the top of the seventh, when Kendall Yarnell came through with her fourth pinch hit of the season and Rey worked a four-pitch walk.
The Gators then called upon Katelynn Oxley in relief, who put an end to UCF’s rally.
In other news:
* The Knights had jumped into Softball America’s latest top 25 poll at No. 25 on Monday and also joined D1Softball.com’s week six rankings at No. 21 in the nation Tuesday morning.
Among the Knights’ 2025 opponents included in D1Softball’s latest poll are No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 3 Florida, No. 6 Texas A&M, No. 9 Arizona, No. 10 Oklahoma State, No. 12 Florida State, No. 16 Georgia, No. 23 Auburn and No. 25 Liberty. Clemson, Ohio State and Florida Atlantic also received votes.
* For the second time this spring, senior Kaitlyn Felton (9-0, 3 saves, 0.53 ERA) has earned Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week honors for her efforts in last weekend’s series against the fourth-ranked Arizona Wildcats.
The right-hander was a key contributor in leading the Knights to the highest-ranked series win in program history, allowing just a single unearned run on three hits in five innings of relief in the two victories, securing her third save and conference-leading ninth win of the campaign.
Up Next:
The No. 21 Knights looked to regroup for their Big 12 home-opening three-game series against the Arizona State Sun Devils on Friday. Game two is today (Saturday) at 2 p.m. and the finale is Sunday at 11 a.m. at the UCF Softball Complex. will be streamed on ESPN+.
