ORLANDO – After playing its last four games on the road, the UCF baseball team will open an eight-game homestand on Tuesday when it welcomes in-state foe North Florida to town.
The midweek contest will begin at 6 p.m. at John Euliano Park. It will mark the first of three season meetings between the Knights and Ospreys and will mark Citronaut Tuesday for UCF. Marc Daniels will have the call on the radio on 96.9 The Game, and live stats will also be available by visiting ucf.statbroadcast.com.
After falling in four tightly contested games last week, UCF has dropped out of this week’s Top 25 rankings but is currently receiving votes for both the ESPN/USA Today Coaches and NCBWA polls. The Knights hold a 22-12 overall record and an 8-10 mark in Big 12 Conference play.
After falling 5-3 at Stetson last Wednesday, UCF then dropped a trio of hard-fought contests at West Virginia over the weekend. The Knights fell by a combined total of four runs in the series, as WVU took the games by scores of 7-6, 7-5, and 11-10 in 11 innings in the series finale on Sunday.
In a cold, wet, and windy late-night contest on Friday, UCF held a late 6-4 advantage but couldn’t hold on down the stretch, as WVU managed to score three runs in the seventh to claim the opener. The freshman Andrew Williamson led the Black and Gold in the ballgame by going 2-for-4 with three runs batted in, while Lex Boedicker had a three-hit night by going 3-for-5 with a double and a run scored.
The Black and Gold led game two early, but the Mountaineers responded with two runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth to pull ahead in Saturday’s ballgame. The Knights got a run back in the seventh and another in the ninth, but it wasn’t enough as West Virginia clinched the series by pulling out Saturday’s contest. WVU left-hander Derek Clark pitched his fourth consecutive complete-game outing for the Mountaineers in the ballgame, as he struck out 10 and surrendered four earned runs (five total) on six hits to move to 4-0 on the year. Andrew Brait led UCF at the plate in the game by going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Anthony Calabro and Jack Zyska both homered in the game for the Knights.
UCF’s offense came alive in Sunday’s finale, as it built a 9-5 advantage as well as entered the bottom of the ninth holding to a 10-8 lead. But the Mountaineers battled back and managed to tie it in the ninth and went on to win it in the 11th with a walk-off home run from Reed Chumley. Despite the loss, the Black and Gold tallied a season-high six doubles in the contest led by a career and UCF season-high three from Dylan King. The freshman Williamson had another big outing, as he went 2-for-4 with four runs batted in, while Boedicker also had a two-hit game by going 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Williamson led the Knights in the series by hitting .500 with seven RBIs, while Boedicker hit .417 with two doubles, four runs scored and an RBI. The senior Brait also had a nice series by batting .364 with two runs batted in and a run scored. On the mound on the weekend, Dominic Castellano had two more impressive relief appearances as he gave up just one run on two hits while striking out five over 5.0 innings. The southpaw Castellano will enter Tuesday as the nation’s leader in hits allowed per nine innings, as he has given up an average of 4.15 hits per nine innings of play.
On the season, junior outfielder Matt Prevesk leads UCF with a .350 batting average. He also has 28 runs scored, 20 RBIs and 11 extra-base hits. The senior outfielder Zyska is next with a .303 average and team-leading tallies of six homers, 30 runs scored, and a .917 OPS. Lex Boedicker is next with a .293 clip and a team-best nine doubles and 25 RBIs. Dom Stagliano leads the starting rotation with a 4.19 ERA, while fellow starter Ben Vespi holds a 2-1 record and fronts the team in strikeouts with 39 punchouts in 40.2 innings. Kyle Kramer leads the bullpen with a 5-2 record, 20 appearances, and a 2.55 ERA, and Chase Centala is one of the nation’s leaders in saves with seven.
About North Florida
The Ospreys will come to Orlando with a 17-16 overall record and a 7-8 mark in the ASUN. UNF has dropped three of its last four ballgames after falling to Wofford in midweek action last week and losing two of three to Lipscomb in conference play over the weekend. North Florida was picked to finish ninth out of 12 teams in the ASUN this season after taking 11th last season with a 28-27 overall record and a 13-17 league mark.
Tripp McKinlay leads UNF with a .331 average, 12 extra-base hits, and 34 RBIs. Jakob Runnels is next with a .298 clip and fronts the team in home runs with eight and a 1.047 OPS. Tony Roca paces the starting rotation with a 4-2 record and a 2.72 ERA. Peter Holden leads the way in strikeouts with 44 in 39.1 innings.
North Florida is coached by former UCF assistant Joe Mercadante. Mercadante is in his first season of coaching at UNF.
Scheduled Starting Pitchers for Tuesday
Junior right-handed pitcher Tyler Nesbitt (0-1, 7.07 ERA) is scheduled to start on the mound for the Knights. It will mark Nesbitt’s fourth start of the campaign. Right-hander Will Ross (0-1, 4.09 ERA) will get the nod for the Ospreys.
UCF 9-2 VS. Sunshine State Foes, 7-1 in Midweek Action
UCF is off to a 9-2 start against in-state foes in 2024 thanks to road wins over No. 4 Florida, Miami, Florida Atlantic, Jacksonville, and Bethune-Cookman as well as home midweek wins over Stetson and FAU and taking two of three at home from South Florida. The Knights are also 7-1 in midweek contests after winning their first seven midweek contests of the season. In midweek games, UCF has outscored its opponents by an impressive tally of 60 to 27.
Knights in the National Rankings
UCF holds the highest RPI in the Big 12 Conference, as it enters the week with the nation’s 14th-best Rating Percentage Index. The Knights have been ranked as high as third nationally in the RPI this year, as they were ranked No. 3 in that category in early March. UCF was also ranked in the Top 25 for the first two weeks of April and made it as high as No. 16 by the NCBWA and No. 17 by D1Baseball and Perfect Game on the April 8 poll. It marked the first time that the Knights had been in the Top 25 since February of 2021.
On Deck
The Black and Gold will continue the homestand by welcoming Central Michigan to town for a weekend series. The series will run Friday to Sunday at John Euliano Park. The Knights will continue the homestand by hosting FGCU on Tuesday, April 23, and Cincinnati April 26-28 for a Big 12 series.