Sarah Willis

Personal: Willis lists Kobe Bryant as her favorite professional athlete. Her favorite professional sports team is the Los Angeles Dodgers. Her favorite food is macaroni and cheese. She lists Mulan as her favorite movie and enjoys watching the Vampire Diaries television show. Her favorite sport other than softball is basketball.

2024 AUX Season: Willis completed her first professional season with 894 leaderboard points, including 630 win points and 224 stat points. She appeared in seven games in the circle with three starts and had an 0-1 record with a 3.55 earned run average. Willis tallied 13 strikeouts over 23.2 innings, with a season-high of six strikeouts over 4.2 innings against Team Nickles on June 23. Her season-best outing was throwing 5.0 frames against Team Edwards on June 17, allowing four runs on four hits with a strikeout. As a hitter, Willis went 2-for-6 in four games with a double and a home run, driving in four runs. She was named MVP 3 after hitting a three-run home run against Team Edwards on June 16 and notched her first professional hit, a double, on June 10 against Team Wiggins.

College Experience: Willis was a two-year letter winner at UCF after playing her freshman and sophomore seasons at Washington. She compiled a 32-18 career record in the circle with five saves over 91 appearances, including 57 starts. Willis authored a 2.30 earned run average over 337.2 innings with 281 strikeouts. As a senior, she was a First-Team All-Big 12 Conference selection, fashioning a 10-11 record with a 2.34 earned run average. Willis made 29 appearances in the circle, including 22 starts, and tallied 115 strikeouts over 137.1 innings. 

She registered two shutouts as a senior, conceding just one hit with six strikeouts in a 9-0 victory over Houston on April 12, 2024, and scattered two hits in a complete game effort during a 4-0 victory at Iowa State in the regular season finale. Willis also struck out a season-high nine batters in a 7-1 triumph against Kansas on March 8, 2024. She was a unanimous choice as the American Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year in 2023 after leading the league with 19 victories and finishing the season with a 1.65 earned run average while limiting opposing hitters to a .184 batting average. Willis paced the Knights with 10 complete games while sharing the team lead with five shutouts. She was also named the Most Outstanding Player of the American Athletic Conference Tournament after conceding just two unearned runs with 11 strikeouts over 17.0 innings. Willis became the third pitcher in UCF history to be named the NFCA Division I Pitcher of the Week after throwing the first seven-inning perfect game in program history against Houston on April 28, 2023. She also posted a seven-inning complete game victory against the Cougars to aid in winning the award. 

Willis garnered a 3-4 record with a 5.44 earned run average in her two seasons at Washington, totaling 42 strikeouts over 48.0 innings with the Huskies. She allowed two hits over 5.1 innings in her first college start against San Diego on February 28, 2021, and also scattered four hits in 5.0 innings at Arizona State on March 27, 2021. Willis was a two-way player who hit .251 during her career with eight home runs and 37 runs batted in over 157 total games. She earned a starting assignment in 107 career contests and accumulated 61 hits, including seven doubles, while scoring 29 runs between UCF and Washington. Willis fashioned a .288 batting average as a senior at UCF with 19 hits. She also drew eight walks while scoring five runs with nine runs batted in and posted a two-hit performance against Missouri on February 23, 2024. 

Willis hit .228 during her junior season with four home runs and a career-high 14 runs batted in, belting a pair of home runs against Missouri on February 15, 2023, and adding a 2-for-2 showing against Memphis with a home run on May 7, 2023. She registered four multi-hit games at the plate during her sophomore campaign with the Huskies, driving in four runs while adding two hits, including a home run, against Long Beach State on February 11, 2022. Willis contributed 10 hits as a freshman at Washington, including four doubles and a home run, while scoring seven runs.