ORLANDO – The 16th-ranked UCF baseball team will head to Morgantown, West Virginia, this weekend for a Big 12 series at West Virginia.
The three-game conference series will run Friday to Sunday, April 12-14, at Wagener Field at Monongalia County Ballpark. First pitch for Friday’s opener is set for 6:30 p.m., while Saturday’s contest will begin at 4 p.m. Sunday’s finale is slated for a 1 p.m. start. All three games will air live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and live audio will also be available for Saturday and Sunday’s ballgames (Saturday on 96.9 The Game and Sunday via UCFKnights.com). Live stats will also be available for the duration of the series by visiting ucf.statbroadcast.com.
UCF will enter the weekend having won four straight Big 12 series after taking two of three over Oklahoma State, Kansas, Texas Tech, and Kansas State over each of the past four weekends. The Knights are currently 21-9 overall and 8-7 in conference play.
After entering the national polls for the first time of the season on April 1, the Black and Gold have moved up in the national rankings and are ranked as high as No. 16 by the NCBWA this week. UCF is also ranked 17th by both D1Baseball and Perfect Game, and 19th by both Baseball America and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. UCF also tops the Big 12 Conference in the RPI by currently holding the nation’s seventh-best Rating Percentage Index.
In its most recent contest, the Black and Gold dropped a 5-3 midweek contest at Stetson on Wednesday night. UCF jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, but the Hatters responded with a run in the third and four more in the sixth to take a 5-3 lead. Despite strong pitching from senior right-hander Najer Victor down the stretch, the Knights couldn’t overcome the deficit as Stetson would hold on to hand UCF its first midweek defeat of the season. Despite suffering the loss, the Knights have won eight of their last 11 ballgames.
Jack Zyska led the Black and Gold offensively on Wednesday by going 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI, and run scored. AJ Nessler was next by going 1-for-2 with a double, a run scored and two walks. Andrew Brait and Braden Calise each added RBI hits for the Knights in the game.
The Knights got another strong start from senior right-hander Cade Boxrucker, as he didn’t allow a hit over two-plus innings of work. Spencer Bauer, Kyle Kramer, Kris Sosnowski and Najer Victor also all pitched in the game in relief. The senior Victor led the group by tossing the final 2.2 innings and surrendering just one hit and no runs while striking out four. The team captain allowed just one base runner to reach off of him over the 2.2 innings of solid relief.
Last weekend against K-State, Lex Boedicker had a big Friday night performance in a 7-4 victory by going 4-for-5 with a team-best six RBIs. Boedicker had a pair of two-run doubles in the game as well as a two-run homer. He also scored another run all the way from second base on a wild pitch. With his big outing, Boedicker was voted as the Golden Spikes Award Week Eight Performance of the Week.
After dropping a hard fought 4-3 game on Saturday, UCF responded by claiming Sunday’s finale 6-1 to win the series. Dominic Castellano was impressive in relief, as he entered in the second inning and tossed a career-long 5.2 innings while striking out a career-high eight batters. He faced the minimum in three of his near-six innings of work and allowed just one unearned run on two hits. The senior reliever Kramer then came on and tossed the final 2.1 innings of perfect relief to help the Knights claim the series.
In the series against K-State, Boedicker led the offense by hitting .385 with two doubles, a home run, three runs scored and seven runs batted in. Matt Prevesk was next by batting .308 while Brait hit an even .300. The UCF bullpen was dominant on the mound in the series, as five pitchers combined to allow just one earned run (two total) over 17.0 innings of work. Castellano, Kramer, Bauer, Chase Centala, and Sosnowski posted a 0.53 ERA against K-State and struck out 17 while limiting opponents to just a .135 batting average. Over the last four weekends, the Black and Gold bullpen has posted a 2.50 ERA as it has given up just 16 earned runs over 57.2 innings.
Prevesk leads the Knights at the plate on the season with a .365 average and 26 runs scored. He also has 11 extra-base hits, 20 RBIs, and a .939 OPS. Zyska is next with a .312 batting average and a team-best 13 extra-base hits, as he leads the way in doubles with eight and is second in homers with five. Andrew Sundean is right behind him with a .311 average and fronts the team with 26 runs batted in. On the mound, Dom Stagliano leads the starting rotation with a 3.74 ERA, while Ben Vespi has a team-best 34 strikeouts in 36.0 innings. The reliever Kramer leads the way in wins (5-1) and appearances (18), while the closer Centala holds a team-best 2.61 ERA and leads the Big 12 and also ranks fifth nationally in saves with seven.
Scheduled Starting Pitchers for the Series
Senior RHP Vespi is scheduled to make his ninth consecutive Friday night start for the Knights in the series opener. Vespi is 2-1 on the season with a 5.00 ERA. Junior RHP Stagliano will get the nod for UCF on Saturday. Stagliano is 1-2 with a 3.74 ERA and has limited opponents to a .215 batting average. Right-hander Aidan Major (3-2, 4.02 ERA) will start for WVU on Friday while lefty Derek Clark (3-0, 1.70 ERA) will get the nod for the Mountaineers on Saturday. Clark is the current Big 12 Pitcher and Newcomer of the Week after throwing a complete-game shutout at Kansas last weekend. Both sides starting pitcher for Sunday is to-be-announced.
About West Virginia
WVU will enter the series with a 19-13 overall record and currently tied for first in the Big 12 standings with an 8-4 mark. The Mountaineers hold series wins over BYU and Oklahoma, and most recently swept Kansas last weekend in Lawrence. West Virginia has won four of its last five games despite dropping a midweek game at Marshall in extra innings on Wednesday. WVU was picked to finish sixth in the Big 12 this season after going 40-20 overall in 2023 and earning a share of the Big 12 title with a 15-9 conference clip. The Mountaineers would go on to cap their season with a trip to the Lexington Regional.
The reigning Big 12 Player of the Year and 2023 unanimous First Team All-American JJ Weatherholt is newly back in the WVU lineup after missing the past six weeks with an injury. Weatherholt is batting .300 in eight games played for West Virginia in 2024. Sam White fronts the Mountaineer offense with a .325 average, while Reed Chumley is hitting .313 with a team-best eight home runs, eight doubles, 24 runs scored, 23 runs batted in, and a 1.069 OPS. The southpaw Clark leads the WVU rotation with a 3-0 clip and a 1.70 ERA. His 1.70 ERA is also good enough to lead the Big 12 Conference. Major paces the squad in strikeouts with 55 in 47.0 innings of work.
West Virginia is led by head coach Randy Mazey, who is in his 12th season of coaching in Morgantown. Mazey, who holds a 355-253 record at WVU, has announced that he will retire at the conclusion of the season.
All-Time Series
Friday’s opener will mark just the second all-time meeting between the Knights and Mountaineers. UCF holds a 1-0 advantage after defeating WVU, 14-3, on March 18, 1993, in neutral-site action in Daytona Beach, Florida. Tony Marilla tied a UCF single-game record in that contest with six stolen bases.
Moving Up in the National Rankings
UCF entered the national rankings for the first time since February of 2021 on April 1 as they were ranked No. 20 by Perfect Game and No. 25 by D1Baseball. After winning their fourth consecutive Big 12 series this past weekend, the Black and Gold have moved up to No. 16 in the NCBWA poll and No. 17 in the D1Baseball and Perfect Game polls. The Knights are also ranked 19th by Baseball America and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches and hold the best RPI in the Big 12 Conference with the nation’s seventh-best RPI.
Knights 9-2 vs. Sunshine State Opponents, 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 opening the year 7-0. In midweek games, UCF has outscored its opponents by an impressive tally of 60 to 27.
On Deck
Following this weekend’s series, the Black and Gold will return to John Euliano Park to open a nine-game homestand. UCF will first host North Florida on Tuesday, April 16, before welcoming Central Michigan to town for a four-game non-conference series next weekend.