TAMPA, Fla. – Chloe Evans' two-run home run in the first inning held up as the gamewinner as Sarah Willis pitched a complete-game shutout to lead UCF to a 2-0 win against South Florida in an American Athletic Conference Championship semifinal Friday afternoon at the USF Softball Stadium.
 
The win sends the No. 2-seeded Knights (38-19) to The American Championship final for the third consecutive season. UCF will look for a second straight conference title when the Knights face Tulsa Saturday at 11 a.m. ET on ESPN2.
 
Evans provided the only runs UCF would need when she took an 0-1 pitch over the leftfield fence after Aubrey Evans had reached on an infield hit with two outs. It was Chloe Evans' sixth home run of the season, and it extended her hitting streak to a program-record 17 games.
 
Willis, who allowed only one unearned run in five innings of relief in Thursday's first-round win against Memphis, retired the first nine South Florida players she faced Friday. She scattered four hits and walked two and didn't allow a South Florida runner to reach third base.
 
The Bulls' best chance to come back was in the sixth inning, when Jordyn Kadlub had a one-out base hit to left and Kathy Garcia-Soto walked to put the tying runner on. But Kadlub was thrown out at third after attempting a delayed steal for the second out, and Willis struck out Meghan Sheehan to end the threat.
 
South Florida put the lead runner on to start the top of the seventh when Vivian Ponn reached on an error. But Willis got Marissa Trivelpiece to fly out before getting a game-ending double-play, one of three twin-killings from the Knights defense.
 
The home run from Chloe Evans was one of only three hits from UCF and was the only extra-base hit from either team in the game. Kadlub went 2-for-3 to lead South Florida at the plate.
 
The Knights extended their winning streak to 12 games, the longest active streak in The American.
 
UCF will make its fifth appearance in The American Championship final with Saturday's matchup against Tulsa. The Knights look for their third American title after previously winning the tournament in 2015 and 2022.  UCF  took two of the three regular-season meetings with Tulsa this season.
 
The latest information on the 2023 American Softball Championship can be found on the conference's Championship Central site.