NORMAN, Okla. – Fresh off a win at No. 4 Florida on Wednesday night, the UCF baseball team will begin its inaugural Big 12 Conference slate with a three-game series at Oklahoma.
The opening conference series for both teams will run Friday to Sunday, March 8-10, at L. Dale Mitchell Park. With anticipated inclement weather in Norman this weekend, game times have been altered. Friday’s opener has been postponed and the two will now play a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. ET/noon CT. The series will then conclude on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET/noon CT. All three games will be broadcast live on SoonerVision on ESPN+ and live stats will also be available via ucf.statbroadcast.com.
“We’re excited to begin conference play and can’t wait to get things started at Oklahoma. It will have the same feel as Opening Day and we’re looking forward to this weekend,” head UCF coach Rich Wallace said. “This is an elite league where you can compete for a national championship, and we can’t wait for Friday.”
The Knights will enter the series with a 9-1 record and currently receiving votes for this week’s ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll and the NCBWA Top 25 Poll. With a 9-6 victory over No. 4 Florida in Gainesville on Wednesday, the Black and Gold moved to 5-1 on the year against Sunshine State opponents and has now won five straight matchups against the Gators. Besides the win over UF, UCF has also topped Miami and Florida Atlantic in midweek contests, and took two of three from rival South Florida at home last weekend. The Black and Gold also hold wins on the year over Bryant and Samford (three-game sweep).
In Wednesday’s victory over Florida, freshman Andrew Williamson belted out a first-inning three-run home run and UCF pitched well down the stretch to hold on to top the Gators. Dominic Castellano entered the game in the third inning and went a career-long 4.2 innings and surrendered just one run on two hits while striking out five to earn his second win of the year (2-0). Najer Victor and Kyle Kramer then followed by pitching effective eighth and ninth innings, respectively, to help the Knights record the win. Kramer retired three of the four batters he faced in the ninth, including a pair of strikeouts, to earn his first save of the season. Cade Boxrucker started on the mound for UCF and surrendered just three runs on four hits over 2.1 innings while striking out two.
Leading 5-3 in the fourth, Matt Prevesk and Andrew Brait delivered back-to-back RBI doubles to give the Knights a four-run lead at 7-3. The UF transfer Prevesk pulled his RBI double down the rightfield line, while Brait hit his to deep right center. The Black and Gold added two more insurance runs in the sixth to make it 9-3. Mikey Kluska led off the frame with a single and later scored on a wild pitch. With two runners aboard later in the frame, Andrew Sundean then drove home Brait with a sacrifice fly to center to give the Knights the six-run cushion.
Brait led the Black and Gold offensively by going 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs while Boedicker too had a two-hit outing by going 2-for-5 with a double and a run scored. Williamson drove in three in the game with the three-run homer, and Sundean plated two and Prevesk one.
On the season, Prevesk paces UCF with a .415 average. He also has four extra-base hits, eight runs scored and eight runs batted in. Andrew Estrella is next with a .371 batting average and leads the team in doubles (5), homers (4) and RBIs (18). Brait follows with a .368 clip while the two-time all-conference performer Sundean is hitting .342 with five extra-base knocks and 14 RBIs. Castellano (2-0, 1.74 ERA) and Dom Stagliano (0-0, 0.96 ERA, team-best 13 K’s) pace the UCF pitching staff while senior Ben Vespi is right behind them with a 1-0 record and a 3.86 ERA in a team-high 14.0 innings of work. Chase Centala fronts the bullpen with a perfect 1-0 record, 0.00 ERA and leads the Big 12 with four saves.
The win over fourth-ranked Florida marked UCF’s first win over a top-five ranked opponent since March 5, 2022, when it defeated then-second ranked Ole Miss 1-0 in 12 innings at home. The 9-1 start to the year is the team’s best start since 2020 when it too started with a 9-1 clip.
Scheduled Starting Pitchers for the Series
Senior right-hander Vespi (1-0, 3.86 ERA) is scheduled to make his fourth straight Friday night start for the Black and Gold. Vespi not only leads the way in innings pitched with 14.0 but is second on the team in strikeouts with 11. Junior RHP Tyler Nesbitt (0-0, 7.27 ERA) will then start for the Knights on Saturday, while fellow junior righty Stagliano will start on Sunday (0-0, 0-96 ERA). Stagliano leads the club in strikeouts with 13 and has allowed just one run on three hits over 9.1 innings of work. Lefty Braden Davis will start for OU on Friday (1-1, 5.54 ERA). He leads the club in strikeouts with 19 over 13.0 innings of work. Right-hander Brendan Girton (0-0, 3.72 ERA) will get the ball on Saturday while southpaw James Hitt (0-1, 7.59 ERA) is scheduled to start on Sunday.
About Oklahoma
The Sooners will enter the weekend with a 6-5 overall record after dropping games to Ohio State and Pitt last weekend and responding with a 5-3 win over Wichita State at home on Tuesday. Oklahoma was picked to finish in a tie for sixth place this year and went 32-28 overall and finished seventh in the league standings with an 11-13 mark in 2023. OU has a rich baseball tradition in which it has won two national championships (1994 and 1951) and has made 11 trips to the Men’s College World Series with the last coming in 2022. The Sooners will depart from the Big 12 following the season as they will join the SEC.
John Spikerman leads OU offensively on the year with a .476 batting average. He also has 14 runs scored and six extra-base hits. Easton Carmichael is next with a .442 clip, seven extra-base knocks and 12 RBIs, while Michael Snyder paces the club in the power numbers with two homers, eight total extra-base hits and 13 RBIs. Brendan Girton leads the weekend starters with a 0-0 record and a 3.72 ERA while Braden Davis is 1-1 with a 5.54 ERA and a team-best 19 strikeouts in 13.0 innings or work. Ryan Lambert leads the way from the pen with a 1-0 record, 0.00 ERA in 3.2 innings.
Oklahoma is coached by Skip Johnson, who is in his seventh season at the helm of the Sooners.
All-Time Series History
Friday’s opener will mark the eighth all-time meeting between the Knights and Sooners and first as conference mates in the Big 12. OU holds a slight 4-3 series advantage after taking two of three over UCF in a series at John Euliano Park in the last meeting in 2018. This weekend’s games will mark the first meetings between the two teams in Norman.
On Deck
Following this weekend’s Big 12 series, UCF will return to John Euliano Park to welcome Stetson to town on Wednesday, March 13 for a 6 p.m. midweek. The Knights will then host their first-ever Big 12 Conference series next weekend, March 15-17, when it welcomes the Oklahoma State Cowboys for a three-game set.
Conference History for the Knights
The Big 12 Conference will mark UCF’s sixth conference since joining the NCAA Division I level in 1985. The Black and Gold most recently spent the last 10 years as members of the American Athletic Conference (2014-2023). Prior to that, the Knights called Conference USA home from 2006-2013 and the Atlantic Sun from 1993-2005. UCF opened its tenure at the Div. I level as an NCAA DI Independent from 1985-1990. The Black and Gold then spent the 1991 campaign in the American South and 1992 in the Sun Belt. Overall, the Knights have won 11 conference championships (regular season and conference tournament titles combined) and made 12 NCAA Regional appearances with the last coming in 2017.