Meeting the Moment: How UCF Softball Advanced To Its Second Ever Super Regional
For just the second time in 25 seasons, the UCF Knights softball team is heading to a Super Regional.
Despite losing the first game of Sunday's regional final against Florida State, 2-1, the Knights came back to hold off the Seminoles in the day's second game, 4-2. This, of course, was after they escaped Jacksonville State, 2-1, in eight innings on Friday and run-ruled Stetson in five innings, 10-1, just to get into that position in the first place.
"We played this game for us, for sure, but this is for every Knight that has ever worn a jersey," coach Cindy Ball-Malone said after the game. "We broke through, we pushed through, we disrupted the norm, and that was what we've been saying that we were going to do."
Here are three of the biggest reasons why the Knights took the Tallahassee Regional:
1. It's Outta Here!
OUR SECOND TWO-RUN HOMER OF THE DAY! https://t.co/HoPq7kwS0g pic.twitter.com/lueZvb77g5
— UCF Softball (@UCF_Softball) May 17, 2026
The 2026 season has been a historic one for UCF batters in terms of hitting for power. Already, the Knights' 71 home runs this season are far beyond the program's old record from the 2021 season (57). In fact, of the seven players that make up the top nine single-season home run totals in program history, four of them are on this squad.
Player | Home Runs | Season |
|---|---|---|
Stephanie Best | 26 | 2005 |
Stephanie Best | 18 | 2003 |
Stephanie Best | 16 | 2004 |
Beth Damon | 16 | 2026 |
Jada Cody | 15 | 2022 |
Kendall Yarnell | 15 | 2026 |
Sierra Humphreys | 13 | 2026 |
Jania Shinhoster | 12 | 2002 |
Izzy Mertes | 12 | 2026 |
In Tallahassee, such power was on full display. On Saturday, it was a grand slam by shortstop Aubrey Evans in the second inning, her 11th home run of the season, that lit the spark on UCF's five-inning route of Stetson, 10-1, and on Sunday, the only way the Knights were able to get on the board in their second game against Florida State was with the long ball.
First, it was catcher Beth Damon, who created an early cushion with a two-run shot in the first inning. It was her 16th home run of the season, tying her with 2004 Stephanie Best for the third-most home runs in a single season in program history. Once that early lead was closed by the Seminoles by the middle of the fourth, left fielder Izzy Mertes responded with a two-run homer of her own, her 12th of the season.
"We didn't have very many runners on, but when we did, I knew we needed to get them in," Mertes said on Sunday. "So, just trying to have a team at-bat."
2. A Break Out On The Biggest Stage
If you didn't know Tori Payne before...
— UCF Softball (@UCF_Softball) May 18, 2026
Now you do. pic.twitter.com/nj1wDFsqub
UCF's season in the circle was mostly taken up by All-Big 12 First-Teamer Isabella Vega, with her 149.2 innings pitched accounting for 39 percent of the Knights' total innings pitched this season. However, despite pitching a complete game in Sunday's first game against Florida State, which UCF lost, 2-1, she did not author the win in the second game that sent the Knights to Los Angeles. That would be freshman Tori Payne.
Payne entered this regional with just 28.1 innings under her belt and eight strikeouts to her name. For reference, one of her fellow freshmen, Hildie Dempsey, pitched 41 innings this season and has not been in the circle since Feb. 27 due to a season-ending ACL and meniscus injury. During this regional, Payne pitched 9.1 innings in appearances against Jacksonville State and Florida State, allowing a combined two runs and forcing 12 flyouts and 12 groundouts.
"This past regional, I pitched like we had nothing left to lose," Payne said on Sunday.
Vega did still have her part to play in the team's success, however. She earned a win in relief against the Gamecocks and shut the door on Stetson to ensure a run-rule win in addition to her aforementioned complete game against the Seminoles.
"I don't think we have our staff that we had in game two if [Vega] doesn't do that for us," Ball-Malone said on Sunday.
That staff included the likes of Lena Elkins, who allowed just one walk and no hits against Jacksonville State and pitched one inning in the second game against the Seminoles.
3. Stepping Up When It Mattered Most
We’re going to be talking about this catch for a long time 🤩
— UCF Softball (@UCF_Softball) May 17, 2026
Kalista in the CLUTCH 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Dx01ASl6ks
Just like Payne, a pair of UCF players that did not get much playing time ended up as the centers of a pair of defining moments in the Knights' run to winning the Tallahassee Regional.
First up is outfielder Kalista Birkenstock, a transfer from Florida Gulf Coast, who Ball-Malone mainly used as a pinch runner. While she served in this role as the game-tying run in the seventh inning of the Jacksonville State game, which forced an eighth inning that ended in a UCF win, that is not going to be the play she is remembered for this weekend.
Ball-Malone later said that she "wanted to put the best defense out there" in the seventh inning of the second game against Florida State. So, she sent Birkenstock out to left field to replace Mertes. Birkenstock's diving catch for the second out of the inning kept the Seminoles from, at minimum, shrinking their deficit to one run with the tying run in scoring position with one out.
And yet, Birkenstock never would have been in that position in the first place had a pair of Knights who did not even take the field on Sunday not spoken up in the dugout.
We got you, Greg!
— SpaceKnights (@TheSpaceKnights) May 18, 2026
WATCH: The most important replay review in UCF Softball history.
Video credit: @espn https://t.co/z1Mk74VW38 pic.twitter.com/gXA2arghYL
Combined, infielder Taylor Kittleman and catcher Kayla Alexandre have played in 20 games this season. However, according to Ball-Malone on Tuesday morning, it was they who spotted the mistake that very well might have cost Florida State the win.
In college softball, baserunners are not allowed to leave their base until the ball has left the pitcher's hand. Failure to do this results in the offending runner being called out. However, that is exactly what happened to Florida State freshman Anna Hinde with two outs in the top of the third, which ended up disallowing a 3-RBI bases-loaded hit that would have put the Seminoles ahead, 4-2.
Ball-Malone later said on Tuesday that she had been "frustrated" immediately following the hit, and that it was the conviction of both Kittleman and Alexandre that got her to approach the umpire and challenge that particular aspect of the play.
"Well, it's crazy, because when that happened, it just felt like we were back at The Plex playing again and having fun, because when that moment happened, I was like, 'We are here. We have arrived. We are team led,'" Ball-Malone said on Tuesday. "And then to see people tweeting that she's this unsung hero is like...couldn't be more proud."
The road between the Knights and their first Women's College World Series appearance in program history runs through Los Angeles and the No. 2 seed UCLA Bruins.
UCF needs to win two of three games against the Bruins to advance to Oklahoma City. Game 1 is set for 9 p.m. Eastern time on Friday and Game 2 at 10 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday. If necessary, there would be a third game on Sunday.
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Bryson Turner is a sports journalist who covers UCF Athletics. Turner has contributed to the Black and Gold Banneret, the home for UCF Athletics on SB Nation. He has called the Orlando area home since the age of 8 and received his bachelor's and master's degrees from UCF.
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