ORLANDO – UCF baseball will take a drive down I-4 this weekend for its first road trip of the season with a three-game series at rival South Florida.
The Knights and Bulls will face-off Friday to Sunday at USF Baseball Stadium in Tampa. Friday’s series opener is set for 6:30 p.m. while game two will come on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. The series will close on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and Friday and Sunday’s games will also be on the radio at FM 96.9 The Game.
The Black and Gold will enter the series with a 6-2 record and currently receiving votes from the most recent NCBWA and USA TODAY Coaches top 25 polls. UCF took last weekend’s series at home against Bryant, two games to one. UCF claimed the opener in walk-off fashion and would also go on to take game two before the Bulldogs would manage to salvage a win on the weekend with a 5-3 victory on Sunday afternoon. The Black and Gold most recently hosted Florida Atlantic in midweek action on Tuesday night, and the Owls held on late to top the Knights by a score of 4-3.
In last Friday’s series opener against Bryant, UCF found itself trailing late in the ballgame. Down 6-4 in the bottom of the ninth, the Black and Gold quickly loaded the bases with nobody out in the frame. Andrew Sundean worked a bases-loaded walk to cut the deficit to one. Edian Espinal followed by delivering a two-run walk-off pinch-hit single to propel the Knights to a 7-6 victory.
In game two, Wiley Hartley and Kris Sosnowski were lights out for UCF on the mound. The duo limited the Bulldogs to just two runs and combined for 12 punchouts on the day. Antonio Jimenez and Sundean both homered in the contest, and Matt Prevesk came through with a go-ahead two-run double to left field in the bottom of the eighth to put the Knights on top for good.
The Bulldogs, who won the America East Conference last season on its way to taking part at the 2024 NCAA Raleigh Regional, then responded on Sunday by claiming the series finale by a score of 5-3.
On Tuesday night, UCF then closed a season-opening eight-game homestand against Sunshine State opponent FAU. Trailing 2-0 in the fourth inning, Andrew Williamson rocketed out a two-run home run to straightaway center field to tie the game at 2-2. Lex Boedicker later drew a walk, and Aris Rivera moved him to third with a single to right. Chase Krewson then dropped down a picture-perfect squeeze bunt to first base to bring in Boedicker and give UCF a 3-2 advantage.
Florida Atlantic later managed to retake the lead with two runs in the sixth, however, en route to holding on late to claim midweek matchup.
Through eight games, the junior college transfer Espinal paves the way for the Knights by batting .533. Second baseman Braden Calise is next by slashing .393/.564/.429. He also leads the team in runs scored with 11 and walks with nine. Prevesk’s 10 RBIs lead the team. He is also tied for the team lead in homers with two and currently boasts a 1.058 OPS. Espinal, Calise, Prevesk, DeAmez Ross, Krewson and Williamson are all currently hitting over .300 for the Knights.
The right-hander Hartley leads UCF’s starting rotation with a 0.90 ERA and is tied for the team lead in strikeouts with 10. The Knights’ bullpen has been lights out so far on the year with Sosnowski, Alex Galvan, Russell Sandefer, Isaac Williams and James Lordi all yet to have given up an earned run.
SCHEDULED STARTING PITCHERS FOR THE WEEKEND
Senior right-handed pitcher Dom Stagliano (0-0, 4.70 ERA) will take the ball for UCF for his third consecutive Friday night start, while fellow senior RHP Hartley (1-0, 0.90 ERA) will get the nod on Saturday and junior RHP Grant Siegel (1-1, 2.45 ERA) will start on Sunday. Hartley leads the group on the young season with a 1-0 record and a 0.90 ERA over 10.0 innings of work. USF is expected to start left-hander Corey Braun (1-0, 2.45 ERA) on Friday and RHP James Hill (0-1, 6.75) on Saturday. South Florida’s starter for Sunday is yet-to-be-announced.
ABOUT SOUTH FLORIDA
USF enters the series with a 5-3 record on the season. The Bulls too have claimed both of their series by taking two of three from Iowa and Georgia Southern. The Bulls dropped their first midweek matchup against No. 6 Florida State 6-2 a week ago but responded by topping FIU in midweek action this week.
South Florida finished its 2024 campaign with a 26-29 overall record, finishing ninth in the AAC with an 11-16 conference record. The Bulls are predicted to finish seventh in the AAC, per the 2025 American Athletic Conference Baseball Preseason Poll. USF is led by head coach Mitch Hannah, who is in his first year as head coach for the Bulls.
South Florida’s top slugger is senior Sebastion Greico. Greico is currently slashing .318/.448/.773 and leads his team with three home runs and nine RBIs. Outfielder Ryan Pruit ranks first on his team in batting average, currently hitting .357. Pruit is also second on his team in home runs (2) and RBIs (8). USF is led by sophomore right-hander Corey Kling on the mound. Kling currently posts a 0.00 ERA with eight strikeouts in 8.0 innings pitched. Reliever Austin Newton was named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Preseason Watch List prior to the season but is yet to see any action in 2025.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. USF
USF currently holds a slight 83-82 advantage in the all-time series. The Knights cut the deficit to one last season after taking two of three at John Euliano Park in 2024. The 165 games played against South Florida mark the most games played against a single opponent in program history. UCF will enter play having won five of the last seven meeting, but South Florida will enter with a 41-31 all-time advantage with games contested in Tampa.
BEWARE OF THE BULLPEN
The Knights’ bullpen has been red hot to start the season. So far, the group of 11 pitchers have pitched a combined 38 innings, in which they have put together an ERA of 1.89, a 3-1 record, struck out 54 batters and allowed just 23 hits and eight earned runs. Five pitchers currently have an era of zero and two of them (Carter Stanford and James Lordi) have yet to allow a single hit. As a group, the ‘pen has limited opposing hitters to a .174 batting average.
NO BETTER WAY TO GET YOUR FIRST
UCF’s Feb. 21 game against Bryant would result in a 7-6 win for the Knights thanks to the heroics of Edian Espinal. After being brought into the game in the bottom of the ninth as a pinch hitter and with his team down a run, Espinal made the most of his lone at-bat by blasting the ball into left field for a walk-off two-run single to give the Black and Gold the win. This hit gave Espinal, who transferred to UCF from the junior college Chipola before the season, his first RBIs as a Knight as well as at the NCAA Division I level.
Since this moment, Espinal has been on fire. He was elevated to the starting lineup in the Knights next game against Bryant and he hasn’t looked back since. In his 13 plate appearances since hitting the walk-off, he has recorded seven hits. Espinal recorded a season-high three hits in UCF’s game against FAU the other night, as he went 3-for-5 in the contest with a double.
ON DECK FOR UCF
Following this weekend’s series, UCF will return to John Euliano Park to host No. 6 Florida on Tuesday at 6 p.m. The contest will mark the first of a five-game homestand for the Knights, as Monmouth will come to town for three games next weekend before Miami visits John Euliano Park on Tuesday, March 11.