The UCF Knights softball program represents the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in unincorporated area, unincorporated Orange County, Florida, United States. It is part of the State University System of Florida. ...

in the sport of

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

. The Knights compete in Division I of the

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(NCAA) and the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

. The Knights play their home games at the UCF Softball Complex on UCF's main campus in

Orange County, Florida Orange County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the county had a population of 1,429,908, making it the fifth-most populous county in Florida and the List of ...

near

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

. The Knights are coached by head coach Cindy Ball-Malone. In the twenty two year history of the program, the Knights have won three American regular season championships, five conference tournament championships, and have twelve appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

History

The UCF softball program was founded in 2002 under Renee Luers-Gillispie. The Knights played their first games on February 2, losing the first contest 2–3 to Bethune–Cookman, and winning their second game against

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

, 6–5.UCF Knights Softball History and Records
The program played its first four seasons in the Atlantic Sun Conference (now known as the

ASUN Conference The Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and began sponsoring football at the Division I FCS level in 2022. ...

). In their last year in the conference, the Knights won their first conference tournament championship, defeating

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

twice in one day, and made their first NCAA tournament appearance. In 2005, UCF moved to

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

, where they remained until joining the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...

in 2013. UCF joined the Big 12 Conference after the 2023 season. The UCF Softball Complex opened on March 14, 2006, with the Knights winning two games that day, a 10–9 victory over

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...

and a 7–3 win over Furman.UCF Softball Complex
/ref> In 2008, Gillespie would lead the Knights to their second conference tournament championship, their first in C-USA, and their second appearance in the NCAA tournament, by defeating #9

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. During the tournament, UCF defeated #1

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

1–0. In both 2010 and 2012, Gillespie led the Knights to the NCAA tournament. In the past decade, the Knights own nine

no-hitters In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...

, including two perfect games. The first two no-hitters in program history were perfect games, and four no-hitters were pitched by Allison Kime. Stephanie Best holds the club record for batting average with .384, home runs with 71 and triples with 13. After their careers at UCF, three Knights have played in the National Pro Fastpitch League (NPF); Stephanie Best, Allison Kime and Breanne Javier.

History

Coaches

Seasons

See also

References

External links