ORLANDO - UCF baseball fell 13-4 in the finale of the three-game series against No. 23 Kansas on Sunday afternoon at John Euliano Park.
The Jayhawks swept the series, improving their overall record to 27-6 and conference record to 9-3 to move into first place in the Big 12 standings. The Knights now hold an 18-13 overall record and 3-9 record in the Big 12.
Kansas got on the board early in the first, collecting four straight hits, including a three-run homer by Jackson Hauge. The Black & Gold wouldn’t let those runs go unanswered though. DeAmez Ross led off the bottom of the first with a double. Following Ross, Antonio Jimenez and Andrew Williamson successfully reached base to load the bases with only one out. Lex Boedicker capitalized on the opportunity, ripping a double to right-center field, scoring Ross and Jimenez. Andrew Sundean followed suit with an RBI groundout, cutting Kansas’ advantage to one.
B1 | Boedicker gets us on the board with a two-run double! pic.twitter.com/yiIy5UfTXG
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) April 6, 2025
The Jayhawks answered back with a solo home run by Brady Ballinger in the second and with consecutive four-run innings in the third and fourth to increase their lead to 13-3.
“It’s hard to play from down there (trailing 13-3), but sometimes you don’t have a choice,” head coach Rich Wallace said. “I thought we did some really good things offensively; there’s some variety in there and there were some really good at-bats. But we’ve got to figure out a way to score more runs and pitch to the level that we are capable of.”
UCF tacked on a run in the bottom of the fourth. Chase Krewson sent a leadoff single through the right side and advanced all the way to third after consecutive groundouts. Ross collected the RBI with his third hit of the game with a two-out single to centerfield.
Following the fourth, the Black and Gold continued to show fight as their pitching put up zeros in five consecutive innings. Angelo Smith limited Kansas to one run off three hits in 3.0 innings pitched, striking out three and retiring the side in order in both the fifth and sixth. Kevin Schoneboom took the ball in the seventh and faced the minimum in the inning. The righty didn’t allow a hit in his two innings and punched out two in the process. Carter Stanford and Mateo Grey combined to finish out the ninth.
Ross and Boedicker led the way offensively for the Black and Gold. Ross went 3-for-4 with a double, a run and an RBI. Boedicker notched two RBIs on two hits, as he finished with a 2-for-4 showing. Hauge paced KU at the plate by going 3-for-5 with five RBIs and a walk.
Kansas’ Cooper Moore earned the win on the mound to move to 3-0 on the year after striking out six over 8.0 innings of work. UCF’s Dom Stagliano was tagged with the loss to move to 1-2 on the season.
UCF baseball will hit the road and travel to Jacksonville to face North Florida in a midweek matchup on Tuesday at 6 p.m. before heading to Manhattan, Kansas, to take on No. 22 Kansas State next weekend.