ORLANDO – The UCF baseball team will head to the Sunflower State this weekend for a three-game league series at Kansas State.
The Big 12 series will run Friday to Sunday at K-State’s Tointon Family Stadium in Manhattan. Friday’s opener is set for a 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT start, while Saturday is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT and Sunday’s finale is slated for 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT. All three games will be on the radio, as Friday and Sunday will air live on 810 AM Orlando and Saturday’s game will be broadcast on FM 96.9 The Game. Live stats will also be available for all three contests via UCF.Statbroadcast.com.
The Knights will enter the series with an 18-14 overall record and a 3-9 conference mark. The Black and Gold dropped three games to No. 23 Kansas at home last weekend before falling by a run to in-state foe North Florida on Tuesday in Jacksonville.
In last weekend’s series against the first-place Jayhawks, UCF fell by scores of 9-2, 10-9 and 13-4.
The Knights had their best chance to take a game in the Kansas series on Saturday, as they jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the ballgame. The Jayhawks responded with a run in the third and five in the fourth to take a 6-4 lead. Antonio Jimenez then answered for the Knights in the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run to make it a one-run game and the Black and Gold tied it up the next inning, as DeAmez Ross legged out a KU error to bring in a run on the play. UCF then took an 8-6 lead in the seventh following back-to-back RBI bunt singles from Ross and Jimenez. The game continued to go back-and-forth as Kanas tied it in the eighth and UCF took a 9-8 lead in the bottom of the inning on a two-out RBI double from Dylan King. Kansas then pulled ahead for good in the ninth with two more runs to claim the hard-fought contest.
Over the Kansas series, Lex Boedicker led the Black and Gold offense by hitting an even .500 (6-for-12) with a double, four RBIs and two runs scored. Ross was next by batting .385 with a double, two runs scored and two runs batted in. Carter Stanford, Isaac Williams and Spencer Bauer and Mateo Gray led the pitching staff by not allowing a run in relief work in the series.
On Tuesday at North Florida, UCF took a 2-1 advantage in the third. Braden Calise put the Black and Gold on the board with an RBI single in the second and Boedicker drove in a run in the third on a sac fly to give the Knights the early advantage. The Ospreys tied it up with a run in the fifth, but UCF again responded with two runs in the sixth to take a 4-2 lead. Kendrey Maduro drove in Calise all the way from first with an RBI double and Edian Espinal later plated Maduro with a two-out RBI single. UNF responded with two runs of its own in the last of the sixth to tie the game at 4-4.
After scoreless seventh and eighth frames, the Black and Gold then loaded the bases in the top of the ninth and Calise managed to work a two-out bases-loaded walk to give the Knights a 5-4 lead. The Ospreys again answered, however, with a solo home run from Seth Alford to tie it and an RBI single on a high chopper on the left side of the infield off the bat of Nick Monile in the last of the ninth to win it.
Despite dropping the contest, a total of six Knights finished with multiple hits in the ballgame. Calise led the way by going 2-for-4 with two runs batted and a run scored. Maduro too had a nice performance by going 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Russell Sandefer and Alex Galvan had solid outings from the mound, as the two combined for 3.0 innings of scoreless relief.
On the season, Espinal paces the Knights from the plate with a .407 batting average, a .511 on-base percentage, 32 runs scored and seven stolen bases. Ross is next with a .368 average, 50 hits and is tied for the team lead in runs scored. Boedicker follows with a .367 clip and is tops on the team in RBIs with 36 while Williamson leads the way in the power numbers with 14 doubles and seven home runs. Senior right-hander Wiley Hartley fronts the starting rotation with a 4-0 record, 4.23 ERA and 33 strikeouts. Reliever Dominic Castellano holds a 5-1 record from the bullpen and leads the team in strikeouts with 35 in 24.1 innings.
SCHEDULED STRATING PITCHERS FOR THE SERIES
Sophomore right-hander Camden Wicker will make his second straight Friday night start for the Black and Gold in the opener. Wicker currently holds a 0-0 record and a 4.22 ERA over 10.2 innings of work. Fellow sophomore righty Russell Sandefer (1-2, 1.80 ERA) will make his first start as a Knight on Saturday and redshirt senior RHP Wiley Hartley (4-0, 4.23 ERA) will get the nod for UCF on Sunday. A trio of left-handers will start for K-State on the weekend, as Jacob Frost (0-1, 4.11 ERA) will get the ball on Friday, Michael Quevedo (4-1, 5.45 ERA) on Saturday and Lincoln Sheffield (4-3, 5.23 ERA) on Sunday.
ABOUT K-STATE
The Wildcats will enter the series with a 21-11 overall record and currently tied for third in the conference standings with an 8-4 league mark. Kansas State is currently receiving votes for this week’s NCBWA Top 25 Poll. Prior to getting swept by Oklahoma State last weekend in Stillwater, the Wildcats recently had a stretch where they won 11 of 12 games which included sweeps over Texas Tech and Utah.
K-State was picked to finish eighth in the Big 12 this season after going 35-26 overall a season ago and finishing sixth in the conference standings with a 15-15 mark. The Wildcats capped their 2024 campaign with an NCAA Super Regional appearance.
Maximus Martin leads Kansas State on the season with a .355 batting average along with team-leading tallies of 12 home runs, 39 runs batted in, 35 runs scored and a .764 slugging. AJ Evasco is next with a .347 average. He also has 16 extra-base hits, 32 RBIs and 30 runs scored. Jacob Frost leads K-State’s starting rotation in ERA with a 4.11 clip while Michael Quevedo is 4-1 and tops on the team in strikeouts with 46 in 36.1 innings. Adam Arther has solid numbers in relief, as he holds a 2-0 record and a 0.87 ERA.
Kansas State is coached by Pete Hughes. Hughes is in his seventh year in Manhattan.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. K-STATE
Friday’s contest will mark just the fourth all-time meeting between the Knights and Wildcats. UCF currently holds a 2-1 all-time advantage after taking two of three from K-State last season at John Euliano Park. This weekend’s action will mark UCF’s first trip to Manhattan.
HITTING ON ALL CYLINDERS
As a team, the Knights currently hold the eighth-best team batting average in the nation with a .325 average. UCF currently has six players with 15 or more at-bats hitting above .300 and four batting over .350 in Edian Espinal (.407), DeAmez Ross (.368), Lex Boedicker (.367) and Andrew Williamson (.353). Espinal’s .407 average is good enough to rank him in the top 50 nationally.
HE GETS ON BASE
Andrew Williamson has been Mr. Consistent for the Knights. Williamson currently has a reached base streak of 30 games, the longest streak on the team this season.
Williamson also has a knack for reaching extra bases. He currently has hit 14 doubles, which is the second-most in the Big 12 and 18th-most in the country.
He also leads the team with a .664 slugging percentage, which puts him on track to finish the season with one of the best single-season percentages in school history. If the season ended today, he would have the ninth-highest single-season slugging clip in Knights history.
THE HITMAN
One thing is for sure, when DeAmez Ross is up to bat, it is almost certain he is going to hit that ball. Ross, who has a .368 batting average, has recorded 50 hits this season, the second most in the Big 12. At one point he had an 18-game hitting streak, the longest by any UCF play this season. He is also tied for the most multiple-hit games on the team with 15. His most recent multiple hit game came in the last game against No. 23 Kansas, where he went 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI.
Ross’ play has made him a nightmare for pitchers. His 11.3 rate currently makes him the third hardest player to strike out in the Big 12.
BIG HIT BOEDICKER
Lex Boedicker has been smacking the ball. The first baseman holds a .367 batting average and is currently on an eight-game hitting streak. He also holds a .608 slugging percentage.
Boedicker is tied for the most multiple hit games on the team with 15. He has also had two four-hit games, which is the most on the team as well.
ON DECK
Following this weekend’s series, UCF will return to John Euliano Park to host Florida A&M in midweek action on Tuesday at 6 p.m. The Knights will then welcome No. 24 TCU to Orlando next weekend.
Kansas State Bound. pic.twitter.com/VWftMQU7JL
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) April 10, 2025