IRVING, Texas – A pair of UCF senior pitchers were named to the 2025 Preseason All-Big 12 Baseball Team in Dominic Castellano and Dom Stagliano on Thursday as announced by the conference office.
The senior hurlers each received the preseason all-conference honor on the heels of stellar 2024 campaigns last spring. The southpaw Castellano capped last season by earning ABCA/Rawlings Southeast All-Region Second Team and Big 12 Conference honorable mention accolades, while the right-hander Stagliano received All-Big 12 Second Team recognition.
Castellano was the Knights’ top relief pitcher a season ago, as he went a perfect 7-0 with a 2.83 ERA and three saves in 60.1 innings of work. He also led the team in opposing batting average by limiting hitters to a stellar .164 average. The Tampa native finished fifth in the nation a season ago in hits per nine innings (5.07), 14th in WHIP (0.98) and 21st in ERA (2.83). His hits allowed per nine innings and his ERA were also good enough to lead the Big 12 while his WHIP ranked second. He also tallied a total of 68 strikeouts in 2024, the second-most on the team.
Stagliano was the Black and Gold’s top starting pitcher in 2024, as he went 3-4 with a 4.10 ERA and struck out 66 batters in 74.2 innings. He too finished as one of the nation’s best in WHIP and strikeouts per nine innings, as he ranked 19th nationally in WHIP (1.02) and 28th in hits per nine innings (6.51). The Boynton Beach, Florida, native started the 2024 season as UCF’s Saturday starter but finished the year as the team’s Friday night guy. Stagliano finished third on the team in opposing batting average by limiting hitters to a .199 clip and tied a season-high in strikeouts with seven three separate occasions a year ago.
As a team, UCF was picked to finish seventh out of 14 teams on the 2025 Big 12 Conference Preseason Poll with 93 total points. In head coach Rich Wallace’s first season at the helm, the Knights went 37-21 a season ago and finished eighth in their inaugural year of competition in the Big 12 with a 14-15 league record. The Black and Gold also posted an impressive 14-4 record against in-state opponents and capped their season with their first NCAA Regional berth since 2017 by earning an at-large bid to take part at the Tallahassee Regional.
Defending Big 12 Conference tournament champion Oklahoma State was picked to win the league this spring with nine first-place votes and 163 total points. Conference newcomer Arizona was selected second with 152 points and four first-place votes, while TCU was projected to finish third with 149 points and the final first-place vote. West Virginia (115), Texas Tech (111), and Arizona State (96) were picked to finish fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively. By being tabbed seventh, UCF was picked to finish ahead of Kansas State (88), Kansas (85), Cincinnati (73), Houston (45), Utah (44), Baylor (39) and BYU (21).
The Knights will open their 2025 season on Feb. 14 when Siena visits John Euliano Park to open a three-game series. UCF will host a total of 32 home games on the year, which includes a number of early-season marquee matchups—with contests against Missouri (Feb. 19), No. 10 Florida (March 4) and Miami (March 11) to name a few. The Black and Gold’s first home Big 12 series will come March 21-23 against Houston. To view the 2025 schedule in its entirety, click here. For ticket information, visit UCFKnights.com/Tickets.