ORLANDO – Fresh off a series win at Texas Tech over the weekend, the UCF baseball team returns home for its final homestand of the season. The Knights will open a four-game week by hosting Presbyterian in their final non-conference game of the season on Tuesday.
Tuesday’s midweek contest will begin at 6 p.m. at John Euliano Park. The game will air live on ESPN+ and live stats can be followed by visiting UCF.Statbroadcast.com.
UCF will enter the week with a 27-24 overall record and currently tied for 12th in the Big 12 standings with an 8-19 conference mark with just three Big 12 games to play this weekend with a home series against Baylor. The top 12 teams will qualify for the 2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship that will run May 21-24 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
The Knights capped a seven-game, 11-day road trip at Texas Tech over the weekend and the Black and Gold finished strong by taking two of three over the Red Raiders to claim their third Big 12 series of the season. UCF opened the series by taking Friday’s opener 7-3, but TTU responded by pulling out a 3-2 extra-inning contest on Saturday. Then in Sunday’s rubber match, the Knights’ offense exploded for 15 runs on 18 hits to secure the series with a 15-6 victory.
Andrew Williamson homered in the first inning of Friday’s opener and Antonio Jimenez delivered a go-ahead RBI single in the seventh inning to propel UCF to victory. The Black and Gold also got five solid innings from starter Camden Wicker followed by strong relief work from Dominic Castellano and Kris Sosnowski down the stretch to seal the win. Wicker finished with a career-high seven strikeouts in the contest as he allowed just one run on two hits. Castellano earned the win in relief to move to 6-1 on the year after surrendering just one run on two hits over 2.2 innings. Edian Espinal and Dylan King led UCF offensively with three hits apiece.
After the Red Raiders responded with a walk-off home run from Damian Bravo in the bottom of the 11th inning on Saturday to claim a hard-fought battle to even the series, UCF came out ready to go on Sunday by scoring four runs in the opening inning. Jimenez had the big hit in the inning with a two-run home run.
Williamson then hit out his third home run of the weekend in the second inning with a two-run shot to make it 6-0 and Jimenez followed the next inning by blasting out a 444-foot shot to deep left field for his first career two-homer game to make it 7-1 in the third. TTU responded in the middle innings to pull within 8-6, but the Knights bounced back with four runs in the seventh and put the game away in the ninth via a three-run home run from freshman Mateo Gray.
Williamson and Jimenez both had impressive performances in the contest, as Jimenez led the way by going a perfect 5-for-5 with two home runs, two doubles, five RBIs and four runs scored. Williamson was right behind him by going 4-for-5 with three extra-base hits, four runs scored and two runs batted in. He hit for the cycle in the ballgame by going double, homer, triple and single in his first four at-bats to give UCF its first cycle since March 13, 2015, when Tommy Williams achieved the feat against Fairfield.
For the Texas Tech series, Williamson led the way by batting an impressive .615 (8-for-13) with three home runs, a double, a triple, five RBIs, six runs scored and three stolen bases. Jimenez also had a stellar series by batting .571 (8-for-14) with two homers, three doubles, six RBIs and six runs scored. Wicker led the starting rotation with a 1.80 ERA over five innings, while Kevin Schoneboom and Sosnowski combined for 4.1 scoreless innings of work from the bullpen.
Overall, outfielder DeAmez Ross leads the way with a .355 average, 77 hits and is tied for the team-lead in stolen bases with 12. Williamson follows with a .338 average and leads the way in home runs with 12, doubles with 18, RBIs with 50, runs scored with 50, and is tied for the team lead in triples with three and stolen bases with 12. Russell Sandefer has the best numbers from the starting rotation with a 3.15 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 45.2 innings, while Alex Galvan is one of the top arms from the bullpen with a 2.63 ERA and two saves. Castellano leads the team in wins with six (6-1) and strikeouts with 57 in 43.1 innings.
SCHEDULED STARTING PITCHERS FOR TUESDAY
Junior right-hander Grant Siegel is scheduled to start on the mound for UCF on Tuesday. It will mark Siegel’s fifth consecutive midweek start and his 12th start of the season. The righty will enter with a 4-2 record, a 4.08 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 46.1 innings. Left-hander Mason McDaniel will start for Presbyterian (1-1, 6.56 ERA).
ABOUT PRESBYTERIAN
The Blue Hose will come to Orlando on Tuesday with a 17-32 overall record and in seventh place in the Big South Conference standings with a 9-15 league mark. Presbyterian will enter having dropped 10 straight contests and 16 of its last 17 games. PC’s last win came on April 25 when it defeated conference foe Charleston Southern at home 14-2. Despite going through a rough stretch as of late, the Blue Hose opened the season by taking a series over Georgetown and later picked up a win over No. 23 Alabama. Tuesday’s contest will mark PC’s final game of the 2025 regular season.
Trey Fenderson leads Presbyterian with a .377 batting average, 58 hits, 16 doubles and 34 runs scored. Rhogue Wallace is next with a .342 clip, while Amman Dewberry leads in the power numbers with eight home runs and 41 RBIs. Tyrell Williams paces PC’s starting rotation with a 3-2 record and 4.53 ERA, while Mikey Marroquin Jr. is one of the top arms in relief with a 4.50 ERA over 14 appearances and 24.0 innings and Jacob Fields leads the way with six saves.
Presbyterian is coached by Elton Pollock who is in his 21st season at the helm of the Blue Hose.
ALL-TIME SERIES
Tuesday’s ballgame will mark the 13th all-time meeting between the Knights and Blue Hose. UCF will enter holding a 9-3 all-time advantage and having won three of the last four meetings with the last meeting coming in a three-game series at John Euliano Park in March of 2015. The Knights also hold a 9-3 advantage at home, as all 12 previous meetings have been played in Orlando.
HITTING ON ALL CYLINDERS
As a team, the Knights currently hold the 17th-best team batting average in the nation and the second-best in the Big 12 with a .314 average. UCF currently has nine players with 25 or more at-bats hitting above .300 and four batting over .325 in DeAmez Ross (.355), , Andrew Williamson (.338), Edian Espinal (.337) and Andrew Sundean (.326).
WILLIAMSON HITS FOR THE CYCLE
For the first time since 2015, a UCF Knight has hit for the cycle. Andrew Williamson achieved the rare feat in his first four at-bats on May 11 at Texas Tech with a double in the first, home run in the second, triple in the fifth and single in the seventh. He finished the game going 4-for-5 with four runs scored and two runs batted in. The homer marked his third of the weekend as he homered in all three games against the Red Raiders. The cycle marked UCF’s first since Tommy Williams hit for the cycle on March 13, 2015 against Fairfield.
THE HITMAN
One thing is for sure, when DeAmez Ross is up to bat, it is almost certain he is going to hit the ball. Ross, who leads the team with a .355 batting average, has recorded 77 hits this season, the most in the Big 12 and 24th-best nationally. He had an 18-game hitting streak recently, the longest by any UCF player this season. He also has the most multiple-hit games on the team with 22.
Ross’ play has made him a nightmare for pitchers. His 9.9 rate currently makes him the fourth-hardest player to strike out in the Big 12.
JIMENEZ NAMED TO BROOKS WALLACE AWARD WATCH LIST
In an award given to the best collegiate shortstop, UCF sophomore Antonio Jimenez was named to the Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Award Watch List. Jimenez was one of 100 shortstops and one of seven from the Big 12 Conference to make the cut on April 18. He is currently batting .318 on the season and had recently reached base safely in 24 straight games. He also has 67 putouts, 115 assists and a .968 fielding percentage.
ON DECK
The Knights will close their regular season by hosting Baylor for a crucial three-game Big 12 series Thursday to Saturday at John Euliano Park. Thursday and Friday’s games are set for 6 p.m. while Saturday’s finale will begin at 1 p.m. Friday will mark Senior Knight for UCF, as 10 seniors will be honored prior to first pitch.
Counting down the hours till we are back at JEP ⏰ pic.twitter.com/v9zraBHkF1
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) May 12, 2025