photo by: Nathan Friedman/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas infielder Anna Soles swings at a pitch during the game against Missouri on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, in Lawrence.

Kansas softball coach Jennifer McFalls said her team has been “steady Eddie” this season in the sense that it never gets too high or too low, even in high-leverage situations.

“Honestly, I’ve had so much fun this year, so it’s been really hard to look at those moments as pressure,” senior shortstop Hailey Cripe said.

But how much pressure will the fifth-seeded Jayhawks really even be under on Thursday at 11 a.m., when they take the field for their Big 12 opener against No. 4 seed UCF?

Long an NCAA Tournament bubble team, KU added a big win to its resume when it run-ruled Oklahoma State at Cowgirl Stadium on Saturday, even though it ended up losing two out of three in the series. The Jayhawks boosted their RPI to 41 by the series’ conclusion, and shouldn’t be in a dramatically risky position against UCF, which sits at 21. Not to mention that one team in the same RPI range as KU that had a head-to-head win over the Jayhawks, Missouri, has already been eliminated from at-large contention as it dropped below .500 in its final game of the year.

With all that in mind, it makes sense that McFalls is “pretty confident” about the Jayhawks’ postseason prospects in advance of Sunday’s selection show as they look for the first NCAA Tournament bid of her tenure.

“I think we’re sitting in a really good place,” she said. “I think playing a team like UCF on Thursday, if we win it only helps us. If we lose, I don’t think it kills us. I think we’re in a really good position.”

So perhaps KU may not live and die with the outcome of its game against the Knights, but it could still be quite an entertaining game if the teams’ history is any indication. Half a game separated KU and UCF in the Big 12 standings this year (14-10 versus 14-9-1, respectively) as the Knights recorded a lone tie when a game passed their foe Utah’s drop-dead time. KU ranks third in the league in batting and sixth in pitching; UCF is sixth in batting and third in pitching.

“I think we know we match up really well,” McFalls said. “Our teams could not, probably, be more identical, (as) two teams in the Big 12, as us and UCF.”

The Knights are 7-2 against the Jayhawks since joining the Big 12, but three of those victories, including one this year in UCF’s series win, have come in extra innings.

“It’s the first game of the Big 12 tournament, so everyone tuning in’s going to get a show for sure,” Cripe said. “But I think it’s important that we punch first and we just keep going.”

UCF scored first in each of the two games it won against the Jayhawks. On April 17, KU eventually surged in front 3-1 but allowed the tying run in the sixth and then a walk-off home run by Olathe native Kendall Yarnell in the eighth. The second game of the series was never particularly close after UCF broke it open with a four-run third inning, and then the Jayhawks won the third thanks in large part to a three-run homer by Cripe.

As consistent as Cripe has been throughout her KU career and as much shine as freshman Ella Boyer has received this season, the Jayhawks have benefited of late from strong performances by junior first baseman Anna Soles and freshman pitcher Lila Partridge, among others.

Soles is now KU’s leader in OPS at 1.193 and has reached 12 home runs and 50 RBIs on the season with recent stretches of solid hitting: “I think just playing more consistent this year has been the biggest thing in gaining confidence from my teammates and my coaches around me,” she said.

Partridge, a 6-foot freshman righty from Petaluma, California, has become something like an ace for KU down the stretch with a team-high 14 appearances and 51 innings pitched in league play. She’s down to a 3.93 ERA on the year and 3.98 in Big 12 games; just once in the last month has she allowed more than three earned runs in an appearance.

“We’re riding the wave a little bit,” McFalls said. “I think Lila is just somebody who just wants the ball. She wants to be in the circle. She handles pressure really well. She plays just really loose and carefree, doesn’t get too caught up in pressure games. Obviously super proud of what she’s done her freshman year.”

On the UCF side, Yarnell has given KU plenty of trouble in recent years, and center fielder Samantha Rey played a key role in the Knights’ series win last month. The usual top hitter, however, is Sierra Humphreys, the second baseman who is D1Softball’s reigning national player of the week after she went 7-for-10 with two home runs and seven RBIs in UCF’s series against Iowa State to close the regular season.

In the circle, Isabella Vega, who threw a perfect game earlier this season and no-hit KU in Lawrence last year, has a 2.88 ERA and has pitched 38.8% of UCF’s innings. She does enter the Big 12 tournament on a bit of a cold streak. The Knights also possess a strong second option in regular starter Ava Stuewe (3.50 ERA) and have thrown seven other arms on the year.

The winner of Thursday’s matchup will face either No. 1 seed Texas Tech or No. 8 seed Baylor on Friday at 3 p.m.

photo by: Sarah Buchanan/Special to the Journal-World

Senior Hailey Cripe points and yells to her teammate after adding points to Kansas’ tally against Arizona State on Thursday, April 2, 2026, in Lawrence.