ORLANDO – The UCF baseball team got the tying run in scoring position in both the eighth and ninth innings, but Florida Atlantic managed to hold on to defeat the Knights, 4-3, on Tuesday evening at John Euliano Park.
With the setback, UCF drops to 6-2 on the season while the Owls improve to 7-1.
“That’s a good team. They are well-coached and beat us tonight. But if we do the little things right, we’re up here eating dinner now and feeling a bit better about ourselves,” head UCF coach Rich Wallace said.
With FAU holding to a 2-0 lead in the fourth, UCF responded with a trio of runs to take a 3-2 advantage. Andrew Sundean reached on a fielder’s choice to put a runner on first with one away. Andrew Williamson promptly followed by launching out a two-run home run to straightaway center field to tie things up. The homer marked Williamson’s second of the season. Lex Boedicker later drew a walk and Aris Rivera followed by recording his first hit in a Black and Gold uniform with a single to right to put runners on the corners. Chase Krewson then dropped down a picture-perfect squeeze bunt to first to bring in Boedicker and give the Knights the lead.
https://t.co/rGK8VmGORu pic.twitter.com/YJC6CIaVZj
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) February 26, 2025
The Owls managed to piece together a two-out rally in the sixth to regain the lead at 4-3. After back-to-back two-out walks, Kyle Boylston tied things up with an RBI single to right. FAU later took the lead, as Jake Duer beat out an infield single to bring in Brando Leroux.
Still 4-3 Florida Atlantic in the eighth inning, Alex Galvan entered the game on the mound for the Knights. The redshirt senior struck out the side in the top of the frame to send it to the bottom of inning. UCF then got back-to-back singles from Williamson and Boedicker to put the tying and go-ahead runners on the base paths with nobody out in the frame. FAU closer MJ Bollinger then entered the game and retired the next three batters he faced to escape the jam.
Galvan then sat the Owls down in order in the top of the ninth to give UCF another chance. The Knights again got the leadoff man aboard in the last of the ninth thanks to a sharp single to left field from DeAmez Ross. Ross then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Braden Calise for the first out of the frame. He then moved over to third on a ground ball to the right side of the infield off the bat of Edian Espinal. With Ross standing on third base and the Black and Gold down to their final out, FAU’s Bollinger drew a ground ball off the bat of Sundean to end it.
FAU reliever Max Martzolf earned the win in relief to moved to 3-0 on the young season while Bollinger recorded his second save. UCF’s Carter Stanford was tagged with his first loss to drop to 0-1. A pair of UCF hurlers tossed scoreless outings on the night in Russell Sandefer and Galvan. Sandefer struck out a batter and allowed just two hits over 1.1 innings, while Galvan struck out five of the seven batters he faced. The five strikeouts mark and season high as he also didn’t allow a hit over a season-long 2.0 innings.
T9 | @agalvan1414 is on another planet 🤯 pic.twitter.com/UtqtKvDFtC
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) February 26, 2025
Ross and Espinal led the Knights offensively by recording three hits apiece, while Williamson went 2-for-3 with the two-run home run and a walk. Duer paced the Owls by going 2-for-4 with a double and a run batted in.
Tuesday’s ballgame concluded an eight-game season-opening homestand for the Knights. It also marked UCF’s first Space Game of the season in which the team donned it’s Canaveral blue Space U jerseys.
UCF will now hit the road for the first time in 2025 for a three-game series in Tampa against rival South Florida. The weekend series will run Friday to Sunday at USF Baseball Complex. Game one is scheduled to get underway on Friday evening at 6:30 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN+ as well as FM 96.9 The Game.