Florida Gators
UCF
No. 5/8 Softball To Face No. 22/21 UCF In Home-And-Away Series
Thursday, April 23, 2026 | Softball
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The No. 5/8 Florida softball team (43-7) is set to face No. 22/21 UCF (36-12-1) in a home-and-away series this Friday and Saturday.
The Gators will first host the Knights at 6 p.m. on Friday on SEC Network+ with Aleshia Ocasio (analyst) and Ryan Urquhart (play by play) on the call from Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
On Saturday, Florida will travel to Orlando to face UCF at 6 p.m. on ESPN+ with Eric Lopez (play by play) and Alex Powers (analyst) calling the action from UCF Softball Stadium.
Fans can listen to the radio call for both games on Gators+/FloridaGators.com.
Florida enters the two-game series with an 8-6 record against Top-25 teams and a 11-1 mark versus in-state opponents.
| No. 22/21 UCF (36-12-1) | |
| Head Coach | Cindy Ball-Malone |
| Career Record | 386-257-4 (.600) |
| Florida All-Time Record vs. | 25-7 |
| Streak | Florida has won six of the last 10 match ups |
| Last Meeting | March 26, 2025 - UF 0, UCF 4 - Orlando, Fla. |
| Florida Record vs. in Gainesville | 17-3 |
| Florida Record vs. in Orlando | 7-4 |
| History vs. UCF | Last 10 Results | ||||
| UCF | 25-7 | |||
| Home: 17-3 | Away: 7-4 | Neutral: 1-0 | ||
| Date | Location | W/L | Score | |
| March 26, 2025 | Orlando, Fla. | L | 4-0 | |
| March 12, 2025 | Gainesville, Fla. | W | 3-0 | |
| March 8, 2023 | Gainesville, Fla. | W | 3-0 | |
| March 30, 2022 | Gainesville, Fla. | W | 10-3 | |
| February 27, 2022 | Orlando, Fla. | W | 12-11 | |
| April 14, 2021 | Gainesville, Fla. | L | 7-0 | |
| March 24, 2021 | Orlando, Fla. | L | 8-6 | |
| March 13, 2019 | Gainesville, Fla. | W | 5-0 | |
| April 4, 2018 | Orlando, Fla. | L | 1-0 | |
| April 19, 2017 | Gainesville, Fla. | W | 9-1 (6) | |
SERIES SCHEDULE:
| Friday | UCF | 6 p.m. | SEC Network+ |
| Saturday | at UCF | 6 p.m. | ESPN+ |
NOTABLES:
- The last three games and six of the last 10 match ups between Florida and UCF have been shutouts for the winning team
- When the Gators defeated the Knights at home in 2025, then-senior Kara Hammock and then-freshman Katelynn Oxley combined for a 3-0 shutout, limiting UCF to 4 hits with five strikeouts
- Head coach Tim Walton and UCF head coach Cindy Malone-Ball served as assistant coaches together for the USA Women's National Team (WNT) and USA Junior National Team
- UCF assistant coach Stacie Pestrak played at Florida in 2005 and 2006 and served as a volunteer assistant coach for the Gators' back-to-back NCAA titles in 2014 and 2015
- Junior pitcher Olivia Miller is an Orlando, Fla., native. She went to school at Bishop Moore Catholic, just about 20 miles away from UCF's campus
- Townsen Thomas is on a team-long nine game hitting streak
- She was named SEC Freshman of the Week on Tuesday for the second time this season
- With her solo home run on Wednesday at Florida State, Taylor Shumaker has now hit 37 home runs in under two seasons as a Gator. She is just three home runs shy of moving into a tie with (40) for 10th-most home runs in program history
- Head coach Tim Walton is four games from his 1200th win as a head coach
- He would become the 18th coach in NCAA D1 history to reach the milestone and would be the 7th active coach with 1,200 or more wins
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