ORLANDO – With a spot to the 2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship on the line, the UCF baseball team will host Baylor in its final series of the season this weekend at John Euliano Park.
Thursday and Friday’s games are set for 6 p.m. starts, while Saturday’s regular season finale has been moved up an hour and is now scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. All three games will air live on ESPN+ as well as on the radio at FM 96.9 The Game. Live stats can also be followed by visiting UCF.Statbroadcast.com. Friday will mark Senior Knight for UCF, as 10 seniors will be honored prior to first pitch.
The Knights will enter the key series with a 28-24 overall record and in a tie with BYU for 12th place in the Big 12 standings with an 8-19 league mark. The top 12 teams will qualify for the Big 12 Championship that will be held May 21-24 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. Utah sits just a game back of UCF and BYU with a 7-20 conference clip. Baylor will enter the final weekend in 11th place with an 11-16 league record. With UCF holding the tiebreaker over BYU, a sweep this weekend would guarantee the Black and Gold a spot in the conference tournament.
After taking two of three from Texas Tech in Lubbock last weekend as well as defeating Missouri State last Tuesday and Presbyterian this Tuesday, the Knights have won four of their last five contests. Over the five games, UCF has outscored the opposition by an impressive tally of 55-19.
In their most recent game against Presbyterian on Tuesday, the Black and Gold put up seven runs in the first inning and 11 runs in the sixth en route to topping PC by a score of 22-5. UCF scored 22 runs on 23 hits to record season-highs in both categories. A total of 11 players tallied hits in the contest with eight notching multiple hits. Senior Andrew Sundean led the way by going 2-for-2 with a grand slam and a career-best six runs batted in. Dylan King also left the yard and finished 3-for-4 with a double, a homer, two runs scored and two RBIs. Braden Calise too had a three-hit game and drove in three runs while Edian Espinal and Matt Prevesk added three hits apiece.
Grant Siegel led the way on the mound by tying a career-high with 7.0 solid innings of work to earn the victory and move to 5-2 on the year. Siegel surrendered just two earned runs on four hits while striking out three and walking just one. Wiley Hartley then followed by striking out the side in order in the eighth and Spencer Bauer secured the victory by tossing the ninth.
The Knights capped a seven-game, 11-day road trip at Texas Tech over the weekend and the Black and Gold claimed two of three by taking Friday’s opener 7-3 as well as Sunday’s rubber match 15-6.
Andrew Williamson homered in the first inning of Friday’s opener and Antonio Jimenez delivered a go-ahead RBI single in the seventh inning to propel UCF to victory. The Black and Gold also got 5.0 solid innings from starter Camden Wicker followed by strong relief work from Dominic Castellano and Kris Sosnowski down the stretch to seal the win. Wicker finished with a career-high seven strikeouts in the contest as he allowed just one run on two hits. Castellano earned the win in relief to move to 6-1 on the year after surrendering just one run on two hits over 2.2 innings. Edian Espinal and Dylan King led UCF offensively with three hits apiece.
After the Red Raiders responded with a walk-off home run from Damian Bravo in the bottom of the 11th inning on Saturday to claim a hard-fought battle to even the series, UCF came out ready to go on Sunday by scoring four runs in the opening inning. Jimenez had the big hit in the inning with a two-run home run.
Williamson then hit out his third home run of the weekend in the second inning with a two-run shot to make it 6-0 and Jimenez followed the next inning by blasting out a 444-foot shot to deep left field for his first career two-homer game to make it 7-1 in the third. TTU responded in the middle innings to pull within 8-6, but the Knights bounced back with four runs in the seventh and put the game away in the ninth via a three-run home run from freshman Mateo Gray.
Williamson and Jimenez both had impressive performances in the contest, as Jimenez led the way by going a perfect 5-for-5 with two home runs, two doubles, five RBIs and four runs scored. Williamson was right behind him by going 4-for-5 with three extra-base hits, four runs scored and two runs batted in. He hit for the cycle in the ballgame by going double, homer, triple and single in his first four at-bats to give UCF its first cycle since March 13, 2015, when Tommy Williams achieved the feat against Fairfield.
For the Texas Tech series, Williamson led the way by batting an impressive .615 (8-for-13) with three home runs, a double, a triple, five RBIs, six runs scored and three stolen bases. Jimenez also had a stellar series by batting .571 (8-for-14) with two homers, three doubles, six RBIs and six runs scored. Wicker led the starting rotation with a 1.80 ERA over five innings, while Kevin Schoneboom and Sosnowski combined for 4.1 scoreless innings of work from the bullpen.
On the season, DeAmez Ross leads the team with a .357 batting average and 79 hits. Williamson is next with a .345 clip and he leads the squad in doubles with 19, homers with 12, triples with three, runs scored with 54, runs batted in with 50 and stolen bases with 13. Espinal is tied with him with a .345 clip and has 17 extra-base hits. Russell Sandefer fronts the starting rotation with a 3.15 ERA while Siegel is 5-2 and leads the way in starts with 12. Alex Galvan is one of the top pitchers from the bullpen with a 2.63 ERA and two saves while southpaw Dominic Castellano holds a team-best 6-1 record and leads the way in strikeouts with 57 in 43.2 innings.
SCHEDULED STARTING PITCHERS
A trio of sophomore right-handers will get the start on the mound for UCF this week. Camden Wicker will take the ball on Thursday for his seventh consecutive series-opening start (0-2, 4.75 ERA), while Russell Sandefer will get the ball in game two for the sixth straight week (2-3, 3.15 ERA) and Matt Sauser will start in game three for the fifth straight weekend (3-2, 3.86 ERA). Baylor’s starters are to-be-announced on Thursday and Saturday but lefty Ethan Calder is scheduled to start on Friday (3-6, 5.46 ERA).
ABOUT BAYLOR
The Bears will come to town with a 31-20 record and in 11th place in the conference standings with an 11-16 league record. BU is 2-2 over its last four games but has dropped three straight league series. Baylor’s last Big 12 series win came on April 17-19 against Utah when it took two of three from the Utes. In all, the Bears have won just two conference series on the season as they also took two of three from No. 12 Arizona in Tucson in late March. BU went 22-31 overall a season ago and finished 11th in the Big 12 with a 10-20 conference record.
Tyriq Kemp leads the Bears with a .358 batting average, 67 hits and 45 runs scored. He also has 20 extra-base hits and 37 RBIs. Travis Sanders is next with a .342 average, while Wesley Jordan tops the club in the power numbers with nine home runs, 16 doubles and 38 RBIs. Carson Bailey fronts the starting rotation with a 3-3 record and a 4.89 ERA, while lefty Ethan Calder is tops in innings pitched with 64.1 and strikeouts with 59. Reliever Gabe Craig has lights out numbers from the bullpen with nine saves and a 0.61 ERA.
Baylor is coached by Mitch Thompson. Thompson is in his third season at the helm of the Bears.
ALL-TIME SERIES
Thursday’s series opener will mark the fourth all-time meeting between the Knights and Bears. UCF leads 2-1, as the Knights took two of three last season in the final weekend of the regular season in Waco. This will mark BU’s first trip to John Euliano Park.
HITTING ON ALL CYLINDERS
As a team, the Knights currently hold the eighth-best team batting average in the nation and the second-best in the Big 12 with a .319 average. UCF currently has eight players with 25 or more at-bats hitting above .300 and five batting over .325 in DeAmez Ross (.357), Andrew Williamson (.345), Edian Espinal (.345), Andrew Sundean (.336) and Dylan King (.325).
WILLIAMSON HITS FOR THE CYCLE
For the first time since 2015, a UCF Knight has hit for the cycle. Andrew Williamson achieved the rare feat in his first four at-bats on May 11 at Texas Tech with a double in the first, home run in the second, triple in the fifth and single in the seventh. He finished the game going 4-for-5 with four runs scored and two runs batted in. The homer marked his third of the weekend as he homered in all three games against the Red Raiders. The cycle marked UCF’s first since Tommy Williams hit for the cycle on March 13, 2015 against Fairfield.
THE HITMAN
One thing is for sure, when DeAmez Ross is up to bat, it is almost certain he is going to hit the ball. Ross, who leads the team with a .357 batting average, has recorded 79 hits this season, the most in the Big 12 and 19th-best nationally. He had an 18-game hitting streak recently, the longest by any UCF player this season. He also has the most multiple-hit games on the team with 23.
Ross’ play has made him a nightmare for pitchers. His 10.0 rate currently makes him the fourth-hardest player to strike out in the Big 12.
JIMENEZ NAMED TO BROOKS WALLACE AWARD WATCH LIST
In an award given to the best collegiate shortstop, UCF sophomore Antonio Jimenez was named to the Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Award Watch List. Jimenez was one of 100 shortstops and one of seven from the Big 12 Conference to make the cut on April 18. He is currently batting .321 on the season and had recently reached base safely in 24 straight games. He also has 67 putouts, 117 assists and a .963 fielding percentage.
ON DECK
The 2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship will run Wednesday, May 21 to Saturday, May 24 at Globe Life Field—the home of the Texas Rangers. Last season, UCF made a deep run at the tournament by winning its first two games to reach the semifinals.
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Saturday’s finale is now set for a 12 PM start time at JEP! https://t.co/hZ7pDdEOGu