MANHATTAN, Kan. – The UCF baseball team rallied for six unanswered runs over the final three innings, but it wasn’t enough as Kansas State held on to take the series finale by a score of 8-6 on Sunday afternoon at Tointon Family Stadium.
Trailing 8-0, the Knights picked up solo home runs from Antonio Jimenez and Andrew Sundean in the seventh and eighth innings to make it 8-2. The Black and Gold then scored four runs in the ninth and had the tying runners in scoring position with two away when K-State’s James Guyette entered and recorded a game-ending strikeout to halt the comeback attempt.
The Wildcats improved to 23-12 overall and 10-5 in Big 12 play and claimed the series with the victory, while UCF dropped to 19-16 and 4-11 in league play with the setback.
The Wildcats scored three runs in the second inning to jump out to a 3-0 lead. Following back-to-back walks, K-State’s Dee Kennedy hit out a three-run home run to center to give Kansas State the early advantage.
K-State’s Keegan O’Connor hit out a solo home run in the fourth to make it 4-0. The Wildcats then added four more runs on four doubles and a failed pickoff attempt in the fifth to extend their lead to 8-0.
With two outs in the sixth inning, Kendrey Maduro broke up Lincoln Sheffield of K-State’s no-hit bid with a double to left-center. Kansas State centerfield Donte Lewis made a fantastic play on the ball and leaped up against the wall and knocked the ball back to his teammate O’Connor for what would’ve been the third out of the inning, but after replay was ruled that the ball hit the wall which resulted in a double for Maduro.
After Alex Galvan retired the Wildcats in order in the bottom of the sixth, Jimenez got the Black and Gold on the scoreboard with a one-out solo home run to right to make it an 8-1 game. Jimenez’s line-drive round tripper to the opposite field marked his second of the series and tied him for the team with his seventh home run.
UCF added another run on a solo shot from Sundean in the eighth to make it 8-2. Sundean’s home run also went to the opposite field and was clocked at 104 MPH off the bat.
T8 | Sunny sends it out of the park pic.twitter.com/R3itfGsWPk
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) April 13, 2025
The Black and Gold offense kept things going in the ninth with four more runs to make things interesting at 8-6. Matt Prevesk singled and Jimenez doubled to put two runners in scoring position. Calise then plated them both with a two-out, two-run single. After a walk by Erick Almonte put runners on first and second, Sundean doubled home Calise with a two-out RBI double to right. Maduro then kept the two-out rally going with an RBI single to center. He took second on a fielding error by K-State’s centerfielder to put the tying runners on second and third. With DeAmez Ross coming to the plate, the Cats made a call to the bullpen and brought in Saturday’s long-reliever Guyette. Guyette managed to record a strikeout to end the ballgame.
Maduro keeps it going with an RBI single… pic.twitter.com/VVgcd2D1VH
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) April 13, 2025
K-State’s Sheffield earned the win after allowing just one run on two hits while striking out five over 7.0 innings for work to move to 5-3 on the year. Guyette, who entered with two outs in the ninth, recorded his second save. UCF starter Wiley Hartley was tagged with the loss to fall to 4-1. Black and Gold relievers Galvan and Isaac Williams didn’t allow an earned run over the final 3.2 innings.
Sundean led the Knights offensively by going 2-for-3 off the bench with a homer, a double, two RBIs and a run scored. Jimenez too had two extra-base hits as he finished 2-for-4 with a double, a home run, two runs scored and an RBI. Maduro also had a two-hit game by going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. O’Connor paced K-State by going a perfect 3-for-3 with a pair of extra-base hits and two RBIs while his teammate Kennedy went 2-for-4 with a home run and a game-high three runs batted in.
UCF won the series opener on Friday by a score of 15-3 behind a 20-hit outburst, but K-State responded by winning the final two games to claim the series.
The Knights will now return to Orlando to open a home stretch in which they will play eight of their next nine games at John Euliano Park. UCF will open the stretch on Tuesday at 6 p.m. against Florida A&M. The Black and Gold will continue it by welcoming No. 24 TCU to town for a Thursday to Saturday series (April 17-19).