ORLANDO – Fresh off of claiming its fifth series victory over the past six weekends, the UCF baseball team will continue an eight-game homestand by welcoming Florida Gulf Coast to John Euliano Park on Tuesday night.
The in-state midweek contest will begin at 6 p.m. Live audio will be available for the contest by visiting UCFKnights.com and live stats can also be followed at ucf.statbroadcast.com.
The Knights will enter Tuesday’s ballgame with a 24-13 overall record and an 8-10 Big 12 Conference mark. The Black and Gold went 3-1 last week with a midweek victory over North Florida and followed that up by taking two of three from Central Michigan in a non-conference series.
After dropping Friday’s opener to the Chippewas 2-0, UCF’s offense responded in a big way by scoring 40 runs over the final two contests to take games two and three by scores of 17-2 and 23-3.
In Saturday’s win, Dom Stagliano surrendered just two runs on five hits while striking out a career-high seven batters over a season-long 7.0 innings to help lead the Black and Gold to victory. Freshman Tyler Kozera then came on and gave up just one hit over 2.0 shutout innings of relief in his first collegiate appearance to finish off the Chippewas.
All nine starters tallied hits and seven of the nine recorded multiple hits in Saturday’s win. Lex Boedicker led the way by going 3-for-4 with two doubles, a home run, three runs scored, and two runs batted in, while Jack Zyska too had a three-hit night by going 3-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Mikey Kluska also homered for the Black on Gold in the ballgame and finished with a 2-for-5 outing with two runs scored and a game-high three runs batted in. AJ Nessler went 2-for-4 with a double, triple and two RBIs, while Matt Prevesk, Andrew Williamson, and Danny Neri all also had two hits apiece.
Holding to a 3-2 lead in the fourth, UCF hung a five-spot on CMU in the bottom of the frame and followed that up with three more runs in the fifth, four in the sixth and two in the seventh to put the game away.
The Knights then followed that up by tying a single-game school record in Sunday’s finale with eight home runs. The eight home runs came from eight different players in the ballgame. Tied at 3-3 in the fourth inning, UCF had a four-homer inning for the first time since 2011, as Neri, Andrew Brait, Zyska, and Prevesk all hit one out, which included back-to-back round trippers from Zyska and Prevesk, to give the Knights an 8-3 lead.
The Black and Gold offense continued to swing a hot bat with a 10-run fifth inning and a five-run sixth to secure the run-rule victory. UCF sent a total of 13 batters to the plate in the fifth frame and Braden Calise had the big hit of the inning with a three-run homer—his first collegiate round tripper—while Kluska homered for the second straight day with a solo shot. Andrew Estrella and Matt Cedarburg then joined in on the fun in the sixth by both hitting one out off the bench. The 23 runs scored and 20 hits tallied on Sunday both marked season highs for the Black and Gold.
Four different pitchers combined to give up just one earned run (three total) over seven strong innings on Sunday. Cade Boxrucker started and surrendered two runs (one earned) on five hits over 3.1 innings while Dominic Castellano followed by allowing one unearned run on just one hit over 1.2 innings. Najer Victor and Chase Centala finished things off by each tallying a scoreless inning of action late in the game.
Over the CMU series, the freshman Williamson led the Knights by hitting .545 with two extra-base hits and five runs scored. Zyska and AJ Nessler followed by each batting .455 with a pair of extra-base hits apiece and seven combined runs scored and RBIs. The senior Kluska followed with a .444 average, two homers, and a team-best six RBIs. The right-hander Stagliano paced the starting rotation by going 1-0 with a 2.57 ERA and seven strikeouts over 7.0 innings of work. The UCF bullpen did not give up an earned run on the weekend, as Spencer Bauer, Kozera, Castellano, Kyle Kramer, Victor, and Centala combined for 9.2 innings of scoreless relief.
On the season, junior outfielder Prevesk leads the Knights with a .359 batting average and .424 on-base percentage. He also has 12 extra-base hits, 31 runs scored and 27 RBIs. Zyska is next with a .324 average and fronts the teams with a .962 OPS, 35 runs scored and seven home runs. He is also second on the team in doubles (9) and RBIs (28). Boedicker follows with a .295 average, 31 runs scored and team-leading tallies of 11 doubles and 30 runs batted in. Stagliano fronts the starting staff with a 3.94 ERA, while and Ben Vespi leads in strikeouts with 46. Stagliano and Vespi are tied for the team-lead in innings pitched with 45.2 innings. Senior reliever Kramer fronts the bullpen with a 5-2 record and a 2.39 ERA, while Centala leads the way in saves with seven.
About FGCU
Florida Gulf Coast will come to Orlando with a 19-19 overall record and tied for fourth in the ASUN with an 11-7 league mark. The Eagles are 4-3 over their last seven ballgames after taking two of three from Stetson in DeLand, beating South Florida in midweek action, and then dropping two of three to Austin Peay at home over the weekend. FGCU was picked to finish second in the ASUN this season after going 42-18 overall and tying for second in ASUN play a season ago with a 20-10 conference clip.
Ian Farrow leads the Eagles offensively on the season with a .416 batting average, 13 home runs, .931 slugging percentage, and a .563 on-base clip. Evan Dempsey follows with a .327 batting average, while Preseason All-ASUN honoree Jacob Lojewski paces the team in doubles (15) and RBIs (34). Chase Kriebel is FGCU’s top starting pitcher, as he holds a 3-1 record and a 4.50 ERA. Lucas Hartman fronts the squad in strikeouts with 43 over 44.0 innings of work.
FGCU is led by head coach Dave Tollett. Tollett, who is in his 22nd season at the helm of Florida Gulf Coast, will enter Tuesday with a 732-445-3 career record. He has helped the Eagles win the ASUN six times and as well as reach the program’s first NCAA Regional at the Division I level in 2017.
All-Time History vs. FGCU
Tuesday’s ballgame will mark just the fourth all-time meeting between the Knights and Eagles. FGCU will enter play holding to a slight 2-1 series advantage and a 2-0 mark at John Euliano Park. UCF’s lone win came on March 26, 2008, in an 8-4 victory in Fort Myers.
Scheduled Starting Pitchers for Tuesday
Fresh off of earning his first victory in a UCF uniform last Tuesday, junior right-hander Tyler Nesbitt will make his fifth start of the season versus FGCU. Nesbitt will enter the game with a 1-1 record, a 5.40 ERA, and 12 strikeouts over 18.1 innings of work. He is also limiting opponents to just a .229 average. Southpaw Jake Bunz will get the start for Florida Gulf Coast (1-1, 7.63 ERA).
UCF 10-2 vs. Sunshine State Foes, 8-1 in Midweek Action
UCF is off to a 10-2 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, FAU and North Florida, and taking two of three at home from South Florida. The Knights are also 8-1 in midweek contests after winning their first seven midweek contests of the season. In midweek games, UCF has outscored its opponents by an impressive tally of 70 to 30.
On Deck
Following Tuesday’s midweek, the Knights will close the homestand by hosting former AAC foe Cincinnati for a Big 12 Conference series this weekend. The three-game series will run Friday to Sunday at John Euliano Park.