ORLANDO – The UCF baseball team will head to Jacksonville on Tuesday for a midweek game against in-state foe North Florida.
The Sunshine State contest will begin at 6 p.m. at UNF’s Harmon Stadium. The game will air live on ESPN+ and live stats will be available by visiting UNFOspreys.com.
The Knights will enter Tuesday’s ballgame with an 18-13 overall record and a 3-9 Big 12 Conference mark. The Black and Gold defeated fellow in-state foe Stetson, 2-0, last Tuesday before getting swept at home by No. 23 Kansas over the weekend.
In last Tuesday’s 2-0 shutout over Stetson, sophomore right-handed pitcher Matt Sauser was the star of the game. Sauser went a career-long 5.0 innings and allowed just one hit and no runs to lead the Black and Gold to the victory. Sauser retired the first 14 batters he faced, as he was perfect through 4.2 innings. After Jordan Taylor reached on an error for Stetson’s first base runner, Jayden Hylton then recorded the Hatters’ first hit with a single through the right side. Sauser then responded by retiring Danny Perez via popout to end the threat.
The UCF offense scored a run in the first and another in the fifth to take a 2-0 advantage. Lex Boedicker and Edian Espinal each had RBI hits in the game for the Black and Gold. Prior to the start of the sixth inning, the game was then halted due to lightning. After an hour and forty-minute delay, the game was called due to weather which resulted in a shortened five-inning shutout for the Knights.
Against the ranked Jayhawks on Friday night, Camden Wicker gave the Knights a solid outing as he allowed just one run on two hits over 4.0 innings in his first start for the Black and Gold. With UCF holding to a 2-1 advantage in the fifth, Kansas then scored a run in the top of the fifth to tie it and two more in the sixth to take a 4-2 lead. KU then put the series opener away with five runs in the ninth.
UCF was again right in Saturday's ballgame, as it jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the early stages. The Jayhawks responded with a run in the third and five in the fourth to take a 6-5 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. 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.
The Jayhawks then scored four runs in the first inning of Sunday’s finale to take an early lead but back answered UCF with three runs of its own to make it 4-3 after one. Kansas then erupted for a run in the second, four in the third and four more in the fourth to take a 13-3 lead. The Knights got a run back in the bottom of the fourth thanks to an RBI single from Ross to make it 13-4. The UCF bullpen settled down from there, as it didn’t allow a run over the final five innings of the contest.
Angelo Smith had a nice appearance in relief by tossing 3.0 innings and giving up just one run while striking out three. Kevin Schoneboom also pitched well by tossing two scoreless frames and Carter Stanford and Mateo Gray finished it off by combining to toss a scoreless ninth.
Over the Kansas series, 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. Stanford, Gray, Isaac Williams and Spencer Bauer led the pitching staff by not allowing a run in relief work in the series.
On the season, Espinal paces the Knights with a .408 batting average and a .516 on-base percentage. He is also tied for the team lead in both runs scored (32) and stolen bases (6). Ross is next with a .379 batting clip and is tied with Espinal for the team lead in runs scored and stolen bags. Boedicker is batting .364 and tops the team in RBIs with 35, while Andrew Williamson leads the way in doubles (14) and homers (7). Wiley Hartley leads the starting rotation with a 4-0 record and a 4.23 ERA, while Dominic Castellano is 5-1 in relief with a team-high 35 strikeouts over 24.2 innings of work.
SCHEDULED STARTING PITCHERS FOR TUESDAY
Sophomore right-hander Matt Sauser is scheduled to make his fourth start of the season and his second straight midweek start for UCF on Tuesday night. Sauser will enter with a 2-0 record and a 0.73 ERA and off a lightning shortened one-hit five-inning shutout over Stetson last week. Sauser retired the first 14 batters he faced in the game. UNF is scheduled to start righty Tommy Groom (0-0, 5.40 ERA).
ABOUT NORTH FLORIDA
UNF baseball comes into the matchup with an 18-14 overall record and a 7-5 record in the ASUN Conference. The Ospreys are 3-4 in their last seven, dropping two of three against West Georgia over the weekend and losing their last midweek to the Florida Gators last Tuesday.
North Florida capped its 2024 campaign with a 18-35-1 overall record and a 11-17-1 conference record, finishing ninth in the ASUN. UNF was picked to finish seventh in their conference in 2025 according to the ASUN Preseason Poll but is currently second in the ASUN Graphite Division at 7-5.
Leadoff hitter Nick Monile currently leads his team in batting average (.336) and runs scored (30). Catcher Jabin Bates has batted in 23 and is currently slashing .267/.424/.453. On the mound, Will Ross currently posts a 2.42 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 44.2 innings pitched. His 2.42 ERA places him fourth in conference amongst qualifying pitchers. Kade Humphrey has appeared in 13 games, all in relief, collecting a 2.35 ERA and 22 punchouts.
The Ospreys are led by head coach Joe Mercadante, who is in his second year at UNF.
ALL-TIME SERIES
Tuesday’s contest will mark the 38th all-time meeting between the Knights and Ospreys. UCF currently holds a 22-15 all-time advantage and has won four straight, which includes winning all three meetings last season. UCF also holds a 10-7 advantage in Jacksonville.
SUNSHINE STATE SUCCESS
Under head coach Rich Wallace, the Black and Gold have had success against in-state opponents. Under Wallace, UCF is 20-7 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.
This season UCF is 6-3 against in-state opponents. Those wins include two victories to earn a series win over USF, a 13-3 win over No. 6 Florida and a 14-4 victory over Miami. 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. Two more of those wins came in over Stetson, as UCF has shut out the Hatters twice on the season.
HE GETS ON BASE
Andrew Williamson has been Mr. Consistent for the Knights. Williamson currently has a reached base streak of 29 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 15th most in the country.
He also leads the team with a .670 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 .379 batting average, has recorded 50 hits this season, the second most in the Big 12. He at one point 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 13.2 rate currently makes him the second hardest player to strike out in the Big 12.
BIG HIT BOEDICKER
Lex Boedicker has been smacking the ball. The first baseman holds a .364 batting average and is currently on a seven-game hitting streak. He also holds a .610 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 Tuesday’s midweek, UCF will head to Kansas to face Kansas State for a three-game Big 12 series. The series will run Friday to Sunday at K-State’s Tointon Family Stadium and will mark the program’s inaugural trip to Manhattan.
New week. New Opportunity. pic.twitter.com/luzjyYjDMw
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) April 7, 2025