ORLANDO – Less than a week away from the 2024 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship, UCF baseball hits the road this week for its final Big 12 Conference series of the season at Baylor.
The three-game league series will run Thursday to Saturday at Baylor Ballpark. With rain altering the series, the two will now play a Friday day-night doubleheader and conclude the series on Saturday afternoon. Game times are now set for Friday at 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT and 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT, while Saturday’s regular-season finale for both teams will begin at 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT. All three games will air live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and also on the radio at 96.9 The Game. Live stats can also be followed by visiting ucf.statbroadcast.com.
The Knights have secured a spot to compete at next week’s Big 12 Championship but will enter the weekend fighting for a higher seed, as they currently sit in ninth place in the league standings with a 12-14 conference clip. UCF is 31-17 overall on the season and will enter the weekend having won five of its last seven games. During the stretch, the Black and Gold picked up four straight wins with a rain-shortened two-game sweep at Houston as well as a pair of midweek wins over North Florida. The Knights most recently won one of three against No. 18 Texas at home last weekend in three tightly contested contests and then had their 2024 home finale canceled on Tuesday due to inclement weather.
Last weekend against the Longhorns, Texas claimed the first and third games of the series by scores of 6-3 and 10-7, while UCF held on to take Saturday’s contest by a run, 5-4, on Senior Knight.
In Friday’s opener, the Knights pulled within a run late with a pair of seventh inning runs to make it a 4-3 contest. Mikey Kluska came in to score one of the two runs on a Texas throwing error while Jack Zyska drove in the other with a sacrifice fly. Despite strong pitching from UCF’s bullpen down the stretch, the Longhorns would manage to push across a pair of late insurance runs to claim Friday’s opener.
The Black and Gold responded on Saturday, as Dom Stagliano got off to a strong start on the mound and Matt Prevesk belted out a three-run homer in the third inning to give the Knights an early 3-0 advantage. UCF added a run in the fourth and after UT made it a 4-3 game in the seventh, the Black and Gold added what proved to be a crucial insurance run thanks to a clutch RBI triple from Danny Neri. Texas then got a solo homer in the ninth, but Dominic Castellano shut the door on the Longhorn offense the rest of the way to preserve the win for the Knights.
After retiring the first 13 batters he faced in the game, Stagliano earned the win to improve to 3-3 on the year after surrendering just three runs on two hits while tying a season-high in strikeouts with seven. Castellano then tossed the final 2.1 innings of strong relief, as he fanned five and allowed just one run on two hits to record his third save of the season. Offensively, Andrew Brait and Branden Calise tallied two hits apiece, while Prevesk went 1-for-2 with the three-run home run.
In Sunday’s rubber match, UCF fell behind early but responded with a five-run fifth inning to deadlock the score at 5-5. The game then went back and forth from there, as Texas scored three in the sixth, but the Knights again countered with two in the seventh to pull within a run at 8-7. UT would go on to add a pair of insurance runs in the eighth and managed to hold on from there to clinch the series.
Prevesk again had another nice game for the Black and Gold offense on Sunday by going 3-for-5 with two runs batted in and two runs scored. Matt Cedarburg also had a multiple-hit performance by going 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Six pitchers appeared in Sunday’s game for UCF and seniors Chase Centala, Spencer Bauer and Kyle Kramer led the way by all tossing strong innings of relief. The series marked Texas’ first-ever trip to John Euliano Park and the inaugural meeting between the two clubs.
Over four games last week, Prevesk led the offense by hitting .533 (8-for-15) with a homer, five runs scored and five runs batted in. He also tallied an impressive 1.321 OPS. The senior Brait was next by batting .467 with five runs scored and an RBI, while fellow senior Neri hit an even .400 with a triple, an RBI and a run scored. Stagliano and the senior Kramer each tallied 1-0 records on the mound last week, while Bauer had a pair of scoreless relief appearances.
Prevesk will enter Tuesday tied for second in the Big 12 with 72 hits and third in batting average with a .365 clip. He also has 15 extra-base hits, 34 RBIs and is second in runs scored with 38. Zyska is next with a .314 clip and leads the team in home runs with 10, doubles with 11, RBIs with 42, runs scored with 40, and a .966 OPS. Brait follows with a .292 average and 37 runs scored. The right-hander Stagliano leads the starting rotation with a 3-3 record, a 4.06 ERA, and is limiting opponents to an impressive .186 average. Ben Vespi fronts the club in strikeouts with 59 in 64.0 innings, while the reliever Castellano is 5-0 with a 2.64 ERA.
Scheduled Starting Pitchers for the Series
Senior right-hander Vespi will make his 14th straight series-opening start on Thursday (3-3, 4.50 ERA) while Dom Stagliano will make his 12th weekend start on Friday (3-3, 4.06). Saturday’s starting pitcher for UCF is TBA. Baylor will go with RHP Mason Marriott on Thursday (3-6, 5.80), lefty Ethan Calder on Friday (4-3, 3.33), and right-hander Collin McKinney on Saturday (3-5, 6.61).
About Baylor
The Bears will enter the weekend with a 21-29 overall record and in 11th place in the league standings with a 9-18 Big 12 mark. Baylor has dropped 11 straight conference games and is 3-11 over its last 14 contests. During the streak BU dropped two of three to Kansas, and was swept by No. 21 West Virginia, TCU, and No. 17 Oklahoma. The Bears were picked to finish 11th this season after going 20-35 overall and finished ninth in conference play with a 6-18 league mark. BU has made 21 all-time NCAA Regional appearances with the last one coming in 2019.
Enzo Apodaca leads BU in nearly every offensive category, as he’ll enter the weekend with a .327 batting average, 11 doubles, six homers, three triples, 46 runs scored, and 38 RBIs. Ty Johnson is next with a .323 average, 13 extra-base hits, 44 runs scored, 19 RBIs, and a team-best 10 stolen bases. Thursday’s scheduled starter Marriott fronts the Baylor starting rotation with a 5.80 ERA and 60 strikeouts over 63.2 innings. Friday’s starter Calder, who will be making just his third start of the year, will enter with a 4-3 record, two saves, and a 3.33 ERA.
Baylor is coached by Mitch Thompson. Thompson is in his second season as the head man in Waco.
All-Time Series History vs. Baylor
Thursday’s opener will mark the first all-time meeting between the Knights and Bears as well as UCF’s first-ever trip to Baylor Ballpark.
Top 50 in the RPI
UCF holds the sixth highest RPI in the Big 12 Conference, as it enters the weekend with the nation’s 41st-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.
Knights 13-2 vs. Sunshine State Foes, 11-1 in Midweek Action
UCF recorded one of its most dominant seasons against in-state opponents in 2024, as it went 13-2 against Sunshine State foes thanks to road wins over No. 4 Florida, Miami, Florida Atlantic, Jacksonville, Bethune-Cookman and North Florida as well as home midweek wins over Stetson, FAU, UNF (two), and FGCU and taking two of three at home from South Florida. The Knights also finished the season with an impressive 11-1 mark in midweek contests after opening the year 7-0. In midweek games, the Black and Gold outscored its opponents by an impressive tally of 93 to 39.
On Deck
The 2024 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship will run Tuesday to Saturday, May 21-25, at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. UCF’s inaugural run at the event will get underway on Tuesday against a to-be-determined first-round opponent. To view more information about the Big 12 Championship, visit Big12Sports.com.