ORLANDO – Fresh off a pair of run-rule victories to claim the weekend series over South Florida on the road, the UCF baseball team returns to John Euliano Park to host No. 6 Florida on Tuesday evening.
The in-state contest is set to begin at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Live stats will also be available for the game by visiting UCF.Statbroadcast.com. Tuesday’s midweek will mark the first of a five-game homestand for the Knights.
The Black and Gold will enter Tuesday with an 8-3 record after taking two of three from USF in Tampa over the weekend. The Knights are currently receiving votes for this week’s USA TODAY Top 25 Coaches Poll and hold a 6-2 record at home this year.
After dropping Friday’s opener by a score of 13-3 to the Bulls, the Knights responded with back-to-back run-rule victories to win their third straight series against USF. UCF’s offense didn’t waste any time getting things going on Saturday, as Andrew Williamson hit out a two-run first-inning home run and Antonio Jimenez followed with a grand slam later in the opening frame to give the Black and Gold an early 6-0 lead. Lex Boedicker later added a two-run triple and UCF starter Wiley Hartley didn’t need any more run support than that, as the senior surrendered just one run on three hits over 6.0 solid innings en route to earning his second victory on the season.
The Knights’ offense again got things going early on Sunday, as Williamson drove in a run in the first and Dylan King and Edian Espinal followed by both homering in the second to give the Black and Gold an early 4-0 advantage. After USF cut the deficit in half to make it 4-2 in the fourth, Boedicker responded in the top of the fifth with a three-run home run off the scoreboard to make it 7-2. UCF would later add two more runs on a two-run triple from King and the trio of Grant Siegel, Dominic Castellano and Kris Sosnowski combined to allow just two runs on the afternoon. The southpaw Castellano led the way by tossing a pair of scoreless innings of relief in which he struck out five of the seven hitters he faced.
In all, UCF homered six times against USF with Jimenez leading the way with a pair of round trippers.
Williamson led the Black and Gold in the South Florida series by hitting .545 with two doubles, a home run, five RBIs and two runs scored. He also tallied an impressive 1.643 OPS for the series. Espinal was next by posting an even .500 average with a homer, six runs scored, and three runs batted in, while Jimenez hit .444 with two home runs, four runs scored and seven RBIs.
LEADING THE WAY OFFENSIVELY
Currently, the Black and Gold have nine players—Edian Espinal, Aris Rivera, Chase Krewson, Andrew Williamson, DeAmez Ross, Matt Prevesk, Dylan King, Braden Calise and Antonio Jimenez—who hold a batting average over .300. All of these players have made at least 10 or more plate appearances. This group has combined for 98 hits, 11 home runs and 63 RBIs.
Espinal, who has made 23 plate appearances, leads the team, with a .522 average. Ross paces the group with 17 hits, while Jimenez has the most RBIs with 15 and is tied with Williamson for the team lead in home runs with three.
SCHEDULED STARTING PITCHERS FOR TUESDAY
Junior RHP Angelo Smith is scheduled to make his first start in a Black and Gold uniform on Tuesday. Smith will enter the game with a 0-0 record and a 1.50 ERA over three relief appearances. He has struck out seven in 6.0 innings and allowed just one run on three hits. Florida will go with right-hander Matthew Jenkins. Jenkins holds a 0-0 record and a 10.80 ERA. Tuesday will mark his first start and fourth appearance on the season
ABOUT FLORIDA
The Gators enter the contest with an 11-1 record and are ranked as high as sixth in this week's Baseball America and USA TODAY Top 25 Coaches polls. Florida’s only loss came in their most recent matchup, falling 13-7 to Miami in the series finale on Sunday. Through 12 games, UF has scored at least six runs in every game, outscoring opponents 68-38. The Gators have also run-ruled opponents four times this season, including all three against Dayton.
Florida finished 36-30 in 2024 and 13-17 in SEC play. They capped their season with an impressive run in the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship. The Gators entered the tournament as the No. 3 seed in the Stillwater Regional and would go on to upset Oklahoma State and win the Stillwater Regional as well as sweep Clemson in the Clemson Super Regional to punch their ticket to the College World Series. UF’s magical run would be ended by Texas A&M, the eventual national runners-up. Florida is predicted to finish fifth in the SEC according to the 2025 SEC Preseason Coaches’ Poll and led by head coach Kevin O’Sullivan, who is in his 18th year as head coach for the Gators.
Infielder Brendan Lawson and utility man Bobby Boser lead UF in RBIs with 14 apiece. The freshman Lawson has had an outstanding start to his college career, slashing .357/.481/.548. Catcher Brody Donay received 2025 Second Team Preseason All-SEC honors and has since recorded six home runs and a 1.000 slugging percentage, ranking third in the SEC in both stats. Pitcher Pierce Coppola has limited opponents to a .098 opposing batting average, good enough for first in the SEC. Coppola has also recorded 23 strikeouts, sharing first in the category with right-hander Liam Peterson. Freshman Aiden King currently boasts a 0.87 ERA with 12 strikeouts in 10.1 innings pitched.
ALL-TIME SERIES
The Gators currently lead the all-time series with a 27-22 advantage. However, the Knights have won five straight contests between the two which includes a 9-6 victory when Florida was ranked No. 4 a season ago in Gainesville. UCF holds a 9-8 record in games played at John Euliano Park. The last time UF visited John Euliano Park was March 6, 2018, in which UCF claimed a 9-7 victory.
BEWARE OF THE BULLPEN
The Knights’ bullpen has been red hot to start the season. So far, the group of 13 pitchers have pitched a combined 47 innings, in which they have put together an ERA of 2.49, a 4-1 record and only allowed 35 hits and 13 earned runs while striking out 54. Six pitchers currently have an era of zero in Kris Sosnowski, Russell Sandefer, Alex Galvan, Isaac Williams, James Lordi and Mateo Gray.
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 the six games he has played after hitting the walk off, he recorded 21 plate appearances, 10 hits, a .476 batting average, a .667 slugging percentage, a home run and three RBIs. His best game came in the Knights’ final game against USF on March 2, where he went 2-for-3 at the plate and had three RBIs, two of which came from his first home run in a UCF uniform. Currently, Espinal’s season batting average of .522 is the seventh highest nationally.
WON THE WAR
Though UCF’s three-game series against USF didn’t start off great, getting run ruled in game one, the team quickly turned things around and left Tampa with the series victory. The Knights would win game two by the score of 12-1 and game three by the score of 12-2, run-ruling its War on I-4 rival in back-to-back games. This marked the Black and Gold’s third straight series win over USF.
The Knights scored a combined 27 runs in the series, while limiting USF to16, and recorded 31 hits. UCF hit a combined six home runs in the series, with three of them coming in the final game.
ON DECK
Following Tuesday’s contest, UCF will continue a five-game homestand by welcoming Monmouth to town for a three-game weekend series. Friday and Saturday’s games are set for 6 p.m., while Sunday’s finale will be contested at 1 p.m. The Knights will close the homestand on Tuesday, March 11 against Miami before opening Big 12 play March 13-15 at BYU.
For the first time since 2018:
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) March 3, 2025
Knights vs. Gators in Orlando pic.twitter.com/Yw7tCQqqMu