ORLANDO – After playing eight straight home games, the UCF baseball team will open the first of four road games on the week with a midweek contest at North Florida on Tuesday night.
The in-state game, which will mark the second of three season meetings between the Knights and Ospreys, will begin at 6 p.m. at UNF’s Harmon Stadium in Jacksonville. The contest will air live on ESPN+ and live stats will be available by visiting UNFOspreys.com.
The Black and Gold will enter the week with a 26-15 overall record and tied for ninth in the Big 12 standings with a 9-12 conference clip. UCF went 2-2 last week with a midweek win over FGCU before dropping two of three to league foe Cincinnati. Over the eight-game homestand, the Knights posted a 5-3 record.
In last weekend’s series against Cincinnati, the Bearcats took Friday’s opener, 9-4, but UCF responded to take game two on Saturday by a score of 5-2. UC then managed to pull out Sunday’s finale, 8-2, to claim the series.
Senior Ben Vespi tossed 6.0 innings of one-hit ball in Friday’s opener, as UCF held to a 4-1 lead in the seventh. But the Bearcats responded with three runs in the seventh to tie it and five more in the eighth to go on to take the opener. Jack Zyska led the Black and Gold offensively by going 1-for-4 with a three-run home run. AJ Nessler also had a nice outing by going 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
With UC holding to 2-1 lead in the seventh inning on Saturday, Zyska belted out a go-ahead three-run home run to deep left field to give the Knights a 4-2 advantage. Zyska’s home run marked his second three-run shot in as many days and his team-leading ninth of the season. Dylan King followed later in the frame with an RBI single to give the Black and Gold an insurance run. Dominic Castellano tossed the final 5.0 innings of shutout relief to help UCF pull out the victory.
Zyska led the Black and Gold offensively on Saturday by going 2-for-4 with a run scored and a season-high four runs batted in. Andrew Brait followed by going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a walk, while Matt Prevesk and King also each added two-hit performances. Castellano improved to a perfect 5-0 on the season after giving up just two hits and no runs while striking out five over the final five innings of action.
In Sunday’s finale, Lex Boedicker hit out a two-run homer in the third to pull the Black and Gold within two at 4-2. The game remained 4-2 until the ninth inning thanks to stellar relief work from Kris Sosnowski, Najer Victor and Kyle Kramer, but Cincinnati managed to score four runs in the ninth to put the game away. Boedicker led the Knights at the plate in the game by going 1-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored.
Over four games last week, Brait hit .429 with three walks and three runs scored, while Nessler followed by hitting .417 with a double, a homer, four RBIs, and five runs scored. Zyska also had a big week at the plate by batting .357 with a 1.357 OPS by belting out two homers, a double, and nine RBIs. Sosnowski and Victor combined to throw 7.1 scoreless innings of relief work on the week, while the left-hander Castellano went 1-0 with a 1.59 ERA and seven strikeouts over 5.2 innings.
On the season, junior outfielder Prevesk leads UCF with a .349 batting average. He also has 13 extra-base hits, 31 runs scored, and 29 RBIs. Zyska is next with a .327 average and leads the team with a .999 OPS, nine home runs, 38 runs scored, and 37 RBIs. Boedicker tops the team in doubles with 11. On the mound, Castellano leads the way with an unblemished 5-0 record and a 2.79 ERA. He is also limiting opponents to just a .143 opposing batting average. Starter Dom Stagliano is next with a 2-3 record and a 3.99 ERA, while Vespi fronts the team in strikeouts with 50 over 51.2 innings of work.
About North Florida
UNF will enter Tuesday with a 19-22 overall record and a 9-12 league mark in the Atlantic Sun Conference. The Ospreys have dropped four of their last five ballgames after falling in the series finale against Jacksonville on April 21, dropping a 10-2 midweek contest at No. 10 Florida State, and losing two of three to Stetson at home over the weekend. North Florida was picked to finish ninth out of 12 teams in the ASUN this season after taking 11th last season with a 28-27 overall record and a 13-17 league mark.
Jakob Runnels paces the Ospreys on the year with a .311 batting average, nine homers, 29 runs scored, and a 1.018 OPS. Tripp McKinlay is next with a .308 average and leads the way in RBIs with 37. Tony Roca is the squad’s top starting pitcher, as he holds a 5-2 record and a 2.55 ERA. Peter Holden fronts UNF in strikeouts with 58 in 49.2 innings of work.
North Florida is coached by former UCF assistant Joe Mercadante. Mercadante is in his first season of coaching at UNF.
All-Time Series vs. North Florida
Tuesday’s contest will mark the second of three season meetings between the Knights and Ospreys. UCF will enter play holding to a 20-15 all-time advantage and a 9-7 record with games played in Jacksonville. The Knights have won four of the last five meetings, which includes a 10-3 midweek win at John Euliano Park on April 16. The two will close the season series on May 8 when UNF returns to Orlando.
Knights 11-2 vs. Sunshine State Foes, 9-1 in Midweek Action
UCF is off to an impressive 11-2 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, UNF, and FGCU and taking two of three at home from South Florida. The Knights are also 9-1 in midweek contests after opening the year 7-0. In midweek games, UCF has outscored its opponents 80 to 33.
Top 35 in the RPI
UCF holds the fourth highest RPI in the Big 12 Conference, as it enters the week with the nation’s 33rd-best RPI. The Knights have been ranked as high as third nationally in the RPI this year, as they were ranked No. 3 in that category in early March. UCF was also ranked in the Top 25 for the first two weeks of April and made it as high as No. 16 by the NCBWA and No. 17 by D1Baseball and Perfect Game on the April 8 poll. It marked the first time that the Knights had been in the Top 25 since February of 2021.
On Deck
The Knights will next head to the Lone Star State for a three-game Big 12 series at Houston this weekend. The series will run Friday to Sunday at UH’s Schroeder Park. All three games will air live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and game times are scheduled for Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT, Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT, and Sunday at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT.