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Big 12 Series Finale Ends in Tie After Drop-Dead Time Halts Game in Extra Innings

Maren Angus-Coombs|
Utah and UCF's series finale ended in a tie due to Utah's drop-dead time limit.
Utah and UCF's series finale ended in a tie due to Utah's drop-dead time limit. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Another week of conference play means another opportunity for a whacky ending.

After the Big Ten saw Oregon and Northwestern finish their series with a drop-dead time a week ago, it was the Big 12's turn on Saturday.

The series finale between Utah and No. 21 Central Florida was tied at 2-2 after nine innings, and the game was ruled an official 2-2 tie as the contest reached the Utes’ drop-dead time.

The tie marks the first for both teams this season. It's the first tie for Utah since Cal Poly on Feb. 24, 2013 and seventh overall. For UCF, it's the first since the 2025 Clearwater Invitational matchup against Ohio State.

“Utah made some great adjustments, and their starter did a really good job,” said head coach Cindy Ball-Malone after the game. “For us, I would have liked to see us take better swings in hitter’s counts and we also made a few baserunning mistakes. Our pitchers did an awesome job holding Utah’s lineup at bay for nine innings today.”

UCF jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom half of the first. Coco Jaimes doubled to lead off the game for the Knights and then scored on a Izzy Mertes fielder's choice to short.

Utah knotted the game at 1-1 in the fourth after Cian Noli singled up the middle. She was sacrificed to second, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a fly ball to center.

Kayla Lyon homered in the top of the seventh to take a 2-1 lead, but the advantage was short-lived when UCF tied it up in the home half via an Aubrey Evans sacrifice fly that plated Samantha Rey from third base.

Hailey Maestretti gave the Utes a strong 6.1 innings, allowing just two runs (one earned) on five hits, five walks, one hit-by-pitch, and four strikeouts. Shelbee Jones entered in rellief and threw 2.2 innings of shutout ball while only giving up three hits and one free pass.

UCF used five pitchers in its longest game by innings since March 20, 2025, against Iowa State.

Tori Payne, Ava Stuewe, Reagan Vokoun, Isabella Vega, and Lena Elkins combined to allow just two runs on seven hits in their nine frames to Utah,

Payne got the start and pitched 3.1 innings. She allowed one earned run on four hits, one walk and one strikeout. Stuewe and Vokoun each recorded an out before giving way to Vega.

Vega pitched 2.2 innings and allowed an earned run before Elkins entered for the final 2.1 innings.

UCF won the series, winning the first two games of the series via run rule. Utah only scored three runs in the three games, marking the second fewest allowed by the Knights in a Big 12 Conference series over the last two-plus seasons, trailing only the two runs allowed by UCF to Houston in April 2024.

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Maren Angus-Coombs
MAREN ANGUS-COOMBS

Maren Angus-Coombs was born in Los Angeles and raised in Nashville, Tenn. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and has been a sports writer since 2008. She has been covering college softball since 2016 for various outlets including Softball America, ESPNW and Hurrdat Sports. She is currently the managing editor of Softball On SI and also serves as an analyst for Nebraska softball games on Nebraska Public Media and B1G+.

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