ORLANDO – Seniors Wiley Hartley and Dominic Castellano pitched well in relief and DeAmez Ross went 4-for-4 with three runs batted in to help lead UCF baseball to an 11-7 victory over Baylor in the regular season finale on Saturday afternoon at John Euliano Park.
Antonio Jimenez and senior Andrew Sundean also homered and recorded three hits apiece on the day, while fellow seniors Lex Boedicker and Matt Prevesk both tallied two hits. In all, the Black and Gold totaled 17 hits on the day and six different Knights notched multiple knocks.
The Knights cap their 2025 campaign with a 29-26 overall record and a 13th-place finish in the Big 12 standings with a 9-21 conference mark following Saturday’s result. Baylor, who will advance to next week’s 2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship, will enter the conference tournament with a 33-21 record and a 13-17 league clip.
“I was really happy to see Wiley Hartley go out there and pitch the way that he did. It was important to me, and to the team, to have Dom Castellano finish things out for us on the mound with a win. And really nice to see Sunny have a big day as well as both Lex and Matty P have a couple of hits. I’m happy for these guys,” head coach Rich Wallace said when asked about sending his seniors out with a victory.
Down a run in the first, UCF took advantage of a BU error to take a 2-1 lead. With two on and two out, Jimenez dropped down a bunt single and Baylor’s Caleb Jameson threw the ball away to allow both Ross and Edian Espinal to score. The Knights then made it 3-1 in the second, as Andrew Williamson drove in a run with a two-out RBI single.
The Bears responded in the third, however, with a trio of solo home runs take a 4-3 advantage. Travis Sanders, Tyriq Kemp and Pearson Riebock all hit one out in the inning.
The Black and Gold answered back with two runs in the fourth and four more in the fifth to take a 9-4 lead. DeAmez Ross doubled home a run off the top of the wall to tie things up and Williamson immediately followed with an RBI single to give UCF a 5-4 advantage. With Hartley pitching well in relief, the Knight offense continued to produce in the last of the fifth. The senior Sundean started off the inning with a solo home run down the leftfield line for his 34th career round tripper. Fellow senior Boedicker later followed in the frame with an RBI single and Ross capped the inning with a two-run single to center field.
Sunny with a senior send-off!!! pic.twitter.com/4B1rUi49Mm
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) May 17, 2025
Sundean then started another offensive rally in the sixth with a one-out double and Jimenez followed by belting out a two-run home run to make it 11-4. The home run marked Jimenez’s 11th of the season and traveled 386 feet.
They don't call him HIMenez for nothing 💣 pic.twitter.com/tCF2xTJwq3
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) May 17, 2025
Baylor got a run back in the seventh on Kemp’s second homer of the day and two more in the ninth, but the senior Castellano responded by finishing things out to earn a three-inning save.
In his final collegiate appearance, Hartley allowed just one run on five hits while tying a career-high with six strikeouts over 3.2 innings of solid relief to earn the win and move to 6-1 on the year. Fellow senior Castellano then finished things by surrendering just two runs on three hits while striking out three over 3.0 innings to earn his second save of the season. BU starter Caleb Jameson was tagged with the loss to drop to 2-1.
Ross led UCF offensively by matching a career-high with his third four-hit game of the season by going 4-for-4 with two doubles, three RBIs and two runs scored. Jimenez was next by going 3-for-4 with a homer, two RBIs and two runs scored, while Sundean went 3-for-5 with a homer, a double, two runs scored and a run batted in. Kemp led BU with a 2-for-4 performance with two home runs.
By finishing 13th in the conference standings, UCF failed to qualify for the Big 12 Baseball Championship. The 2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship will run May 21-24 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
Saturday’s contest marked the final game of the 2025 season for the Knights.