CINCINNATI – Cincinnati reeled off six unanswered runs on its way to defeating UCF 6-4 in game one of a weekend series on Friday night at UC Baseball Stadium.
Entering the ninth inning down 6-3, the Knights (17-8, 3-4 Big 12) didn’t go away easily, as they rallied for a run and looked for more by loading the bases with two outs in the frame.
DeAmez Ross led off the top of the ninth inning with a single and Kendrey Maduro followed with a one-out hit to bring the tying run to the plate. After Andrew Williamson flied out to deep center to put runners on the corners with two away, Lex Boedicker then drove in Ross from third with a sharp RBI single to left. Erick Almonte then worked a two-out walk to load the bases and move the tying runner into scoring position. With the game on the line, Braden Calise smoked a ball on the right side of the infield, but UC’s (14-11, 2-5 Big 12) Lauden Brooks managed to make a full extension diving stop to his left at second base and threw out Calise by a step at first to seal the victory.
Early in the game, the Black and Gold struck first with a two-out rally in the opening inning to jump out to a 1-0 lead. Edian Espinal worked a walk with two away and promptly stole second to get into scoring position. Williamson wasted little time bringing him home, as he doubled on the next pitch to the opposite field to give UCF the early advantage.
T1 | Willy gets the job done 🫡
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) March 28, 2025
RBI Double @AndrewWGNF11 pic.twitter.com/0ijYTCfptz
With Black and Gold starting pitcher Wiley Hartley having faced the minimum through two innings, the UCF offense added two more runs in the top of the third to make it 3-0. Ross started the rally with a bunt single and Antonio Jimenez quickly plated him with an RBI triple to left center. Espinal then made it 3-0 by driving in Jimenez with a groundout to shortstop.
T3 | RBI triple for HIMenez 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/EXYqHaKCcW
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) March 28, 2025
The Bearcats struck back with a run in the bottom of the third thanks to a two-out solo home run from Donovan Ford. UC looked for more in the frame by getting two runners in scoring position after consecutive hits, but Hartley responded by drawing an inning-ending groundout to keep it a 3-1 game.
Cincinnati then took the lead in the fifth thanks to a pair of home runs. Kerrington Cross made it a one-run game with a one-out solo home run and Jack Natili later gave UC a 4-3 advantage with a two-out two-run round tripper to right-center.
The Knights threatened by getting runners on the corners with two away in the top of sixth, but Bearcat starter Nathan Taylor responded by drawing an inning-ending groundout to keep it a 4-3 Cincinnati advantage. UCF reliever Russell Sandefer then retired the side in order in the bottom of the sixth which included a pair of strikeouts.
The Bearcats then loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, but Kevin Schoneboom came on and retired UC’s Christian Mitchelle to escape the jam.
After a scoreless top of the eighth, Cincinnati tacked on what proved to be two costly insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth to extend its lead to 6-3. Following a leadoff infield single from Cal Sefcik, Tommy O’Connor drove him in in with an RBI double that split the gap in left center. UC later loaded the bases after back-to-back one-out walks. Cincinnati’s Brooks then looked to have fouled a ball off of his foot, but the home plate umpire let the play stand which resulted in an RBI groundout for the Bearcats’ sixth run.
UC’s Taylor was credited with the win on the mound after going 6.0 innings to move to 4-0 on the season. Hudson Johnson then followed with 2.2 innings of work and Brandon Scheurer came on to get the final out to earn his second save. UCF’s Sandefer was tagged with the loss despite allowing just one run on two hits while striking out four over 2.1 innings to drop to 1-2.
Ross led UCF offensively in the game by going 3-for-5 on the night with two runs scored, while Williamson and Boedicker each recorded two hits and drove in a run. Cross led the Bearcats by going 3-for-3 with a walk, a homer, an RBI and a run scored.
The series will continue on Saturday with game two at 3 p.m. Sunday’s finale has been moved up an hour and is now slated to begin at noon. Both games will be streamed live on ESPN+.