ORLANDO – Fresh off a 13-3 victory over No. 6 Florida on Tuesday, the UCF baseball team will continue a five-game homestand with a three-game series against Monmouth this weekend at John Euliano Park. The three-game set will mark the Black and Gold’s final non-conference series of the season.
Friday and Saturday’s games are set for 6 p.m. while Sunday’s finale has been moved up to a 12:30 p.m. first pitch. All three games will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and live stats will also be available for each game by visiting UCF.Statbroadcast.com.
The Knights will enter the weekend with a 9-3 record and currently receiving votes for the most recent USA TODAY Top 25 Coaches Poll. UCF has won three straight with a trio of double-digit victories over in-state foes. The Black and Gold first defeated rival South Florida via the run rule in back-to-back games last Saturday (12-1) and Sunday (12-2) to claim that series, before topping the sixth-ranked Gators by a score of 13-3 on Tuesday in front of the second-largest home crowd in program history with 4,204 fans packing John Euliano Park on Tuesday.
Andrew Williamson got the Knights off to a strong start on Tuesday with a two-run first-inning home run to give UCF an early 2-0 lead. The Gators responded with two runs of their own in the second to deadlock the score. With Dominic Castellano on in relief for the Black and Gold and putting up zeros on the mound, the UCF offense later erupted with 11 unanswered runs over the fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth innings to put the game away.
Braden Calise gave UCF the lead in the fourth inning with an RBI single. Edian Espinal followed with a three-run homer in the fifth and DeAmez Ross added a two-run single in the sixth for a few of the big hits in the middle innings.
Lex Boedicker led the Knights in the game by going 4-for-5 with a triple, two runs scored and an RBI. Espinal was next by batting 2-for-4 with a homer, a double, four RBIs and two runs scored. Ross also had a big night by going 2-for-4 with three runs batted in and a run scored.
Castellano and Alex Galvan led the Knights on the mound against Florida by tossing 6.2 scoreless innings of relief. The two combined to allow just two hits and two walks while striking out eight. The right-hander Galvan had a stretch in which he struck out five straight batters, which included striking out the side in the top of the sixth. The southpaw Castellano was credited with the win on the mound to move to 2-0 on the year.
The win marked UCF’s sixth straight victory over the Gators.
During the last three games, UCF has outscored its opponents 37-6 as well as outhit the opposition 41-18. Espinal is leading the Knights during the stretch by batting .600 as well as boasting an impressive 2.014 OPS. He has scored eight runs, driven home seven and hit out a pair of home runs and a double. Boedicker is next by batting .583 over the past three games with two triples, a home run, eight RBIs and four runs scored. Williamson and Krewson are next by each hitting .455 over the past three games.
GETTING HITS
Currently, the Black and Gold have nine players—Edian Espinal (.519), Aris Rivera (.400), DeAmez Ross (.373), Chase Krewson (.361), Andrew Williamson (.354), Lex Boedicker (.341), Braden Calise (.326), Antonio Jimenez (.308), and Dylan King (.300)— who hold a batting average above .300. All of these players have made at least 10 or more plate appearances. This group has combined for 114 hits, 75 RBIs and 13 home runs.
Espinal leads the team with a .519 average. Ross leads the group with 19 hits, while Jimenez and Williamson both lead the group in RBIs with 15. Williamson is also the leader in home runs, having recorded four on the season so far.
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS FOR THE WEEKEND
Redshirt junior right-hander Kris Sosnowski is scheduled to make his first collegiate start for UCF on Friday. Sosnowski will enter the game with a 1-0 record and a 0.00 ERA over three relief appearances in which he has struck out eight over 7.0 innings. Senior righty Wiley Hartley will make his fourth consecutive Saturday start for the Knights. Hartley leads the Knights’ starting rotation with a 2-0 record, 1.12 ERA and 15 strikeouts over 16.0 innings. Fellow senior right-hander Dom Stagliano is scheduled to take the ball on Sunday (0-1, 7.45 ERA). Right-hander Kevin Opanel is scheduled to start for the Hawks on Friday (0-0, 3.00 ERA), left-hander Tommy Kent on Saturday (1-2, 4.15 ERA) and RHP JD Greeley on Sunday (0-2, 7.50 ERA).
ABOUT MONMOUTH
Monmouth enters the weekend series with a 4-7 record. Its visit to John Euliano Park will mark games 12-14 of a current 20-game road trip to open the season. The Hawks are coming off a Tuesday night victory, winning 8-3 over NJIT. Before the win, Monmouth was swept in three-game series at George Mason. Despite trailing last Saturday’s game 12-4 in the ninth, the Hawks managed to put up a seven-run rally to close the gap and pull within a run. But ultimately the Patriots recorded a pair of consecutive outs to pull out a 12-11 contest.
In 2024, Monmouth finished ninth in the Coastal Athletic Association with an 18-30 overall record and an 11-16 conference record. The Hawks finished their season strong however, beating Hofstra 30-3 in the season finale. Monmouth is predicted to finish 11th in the CAA according to the 2025 CAA Baseball Preseason Poll. The Hawks are led by head coach Dean Ehehalt who is in his 32nd year as head coach for the program.
Senior Joey Bant leads the Hawks in RBIs with seven, the infielder is currently slashing .258/.265/.355. Outfielder Harry Paddenn holds the highest batting average on the team, batting .333 through 10 starts. On the mound Freshman Ryan Mealy has had a great start to his college career. Through three appearances, all in relief, the right-hander posts a 2.00 ERA with seven strikeouts in 9.0 innings pitched. Senior JD Greeley has punched out 11 in 12.0 innings pitched.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. MONMOUTH
Friday’s opener will mark the 25th all-time meeting between the Knights and Hawks. UCF will enter with a 20-4 all-time advantage with all previous 24 games having taken place here in Orlando. The Knights have won five of the last six meetings, including a 10-5 victory in the last meeting on March 8, 2009. UCF has won six of the previous seven series between to the two, including four sweeps.
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 54.2 innings, in which they have put together an ERA of 2.30, a 5-1 record, and allowed only 38 hits and 14 earned runs while striking out 72 batters. Five pitchers—Kris Sosnowski, Alex Galvan, Russell Sanderfer, James Lordi and Mateo Gray—currently have an era of zero and Carter Stanford has yet to allow a hit.
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’s recorded 25 plate appearances, 12 hits, a .480 batting average, a .800 slugging percentage, two home runs and seven RBIs. He’s had five multiple hit games. Some of best performances were when he went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs in the March 2 game against USF and when he went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs in the Black and Gold’s 13-3 win over No. 6 Florida. Currently, Espinal’s season batting average of .519 is the sixth highest in the nation.
SUNSHINE STATE SUCCESS
UCF defeated the No. 6 Florida Gators by the score of 13-3 on March 4. This was the second year in a row that the Knights under head coach Rich Wallace have knocked off the Gators, as well as the sixth overall straight victory over the Gators.
The win continued the trend of the Knights having success against in-state opponents in the Wallace era. The win moved Wallace to 17-6 in games against teams from the state of Florida. Wallace’s 2024 squad went 14-4, which included beating the then ranked No. 4 Florida in Gainesville, a series win over USF, and a win over Stetson in the Tallahassee Regional.
BIG WIN IN FRONT OF A BIG CROWD
UCF’s March 4 game against Florida had a lot of highlights. But one of the biggest was the size of the crowd. Knight Nation packed John Euliano Park that night to see the Knights defeat the No. 6 team in the country by the score of 13-3. The final attendance was totaled at 4,204, the second largest home crowd in program history. This only ranked below the Knights’ March 3, 2015, contest against Florida, in which the Black and Gold Defeated the then-ranked No. 2 Gators 4-3 in front of 4,319 fans.
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 to 16, 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 this weekend’s series, the Black and Gold will close a five-game homestand by hosting the Miami Hurricanes on Tuesday, March 11. The midweek game is set for 6 p.m. and will air live on ESPN+. UCF will then open Big 12 Conference play next weekend at BYU. The conference-opening series will run next Thursday to Saturday at BYU’s Miller Park and will mark the program’s inaugural trip to the Beehive State.
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