ORLANDO – Behind a grand slam from Landon Moran and 6.0 shutout innings from Braden Smith, the UCF baseball team took care of business on Opening Knight by defeating Siena 16-0 on Friday at John Euliano Park.
Senior newcomer Moran blasted out his first grand slam in a Black and Gold uniform in the fourth inning to put the Knights (1-0) up by a commanding score of 8-0. Senior DeAmez Ross added a solo shot in the sixth to move to 3-for-5 in the contest and extend UCF’s advantage to 14-0. The junior right-hander Smith was strong on the mound in his Black and Gold debut by allowing just five hits while striking out five and walking just one over six shutout frames.
Landon Moran with the GRAND SLAM 💥 pic.twitter.com/XMj46PyWAc
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) February 14, 2026
“The result was nice to see,” head UCF coach Rich Wallace said. “Braden Smith went out and did what he’s done in practice and attacked the zone. He kept his defenders in play and rhythm—and went out and walked just one guy over six innings on Opening Night. It was impressive.
“We left some meat on the bone there early on the bases. But Landon Moran took the big swing for us with the bases loaded to break this one open and we continued to attack from there.”
The Knights took advantage of a couple of Siena (0-1) defensive miscues in the early innings to jump out to a 3-0 advantage through three innings. Freshman Jordan Lodise then drove home his first collegiate run with a sacrifice fly in the fourth and Moran followed with UCF’s first grand slam on Opening Knight since Tom Jost hit one out against Florida Atlantic on Feb. 19, 2026, to put the Black and Gold up 8-0.
Following a clean inning from Smith in the top of the fifth, the Knights added five more runs in the bottom of the frame to make it 13-0. Two runs came home on a pair of balk calls while two more came in on a passed ball. Braden Calise then picked up an RBI to cap the scoring in the inning.
The senior Ross then led off the last of the sixth with a solo homer to right and Andrew Williamson followed with an RBI triple. Senior newcomer Zak Skinner drove home UCF’s final run of the night with a sacrifice fly.
DeAmez's first of the year 😤 pic.twitter.com/H786B5BJte
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) February 14, 2026
Freshman southpaw Kaniel Rosado came on in the seventh and retired the Saints in order to cap the seven-inning run-rule victory.
Smith (1-0) and Rosado combined for the shutout, as they limited Siena to just six baserunners in the ballgame. The shutout marked UCF’s first since April 1 of last season against Stetson. It also marked the Black and Gold’s first on Opening Knight since Feb. 18, 2022, when they also blanked Siena. Tyler Sausville was tagged with the loss for Siena to fall to 0-1 on the young season.
“It was a fun game,” said Smith. “It was a good team win all around the park. I felt like I did pretty well. Just a good way to start off and kind of get the weekend moving.”
Braden Smith’s Quality Debut 🫡
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) February 14, 2026
6 IP
0 R
5 K pic.twitter.com/keKRB0LW7t
Ross led the Knights at the plate by going 3-for-5 with a homer, three runs scored, a stolen base and an RBI. Moran drove home a game-high five runs, as he finished 1-for-3 with a grand slam, a sacrifice fly and two runs scored. Williamson, Lodise, Skinner and Calise also drove in runs in the game, and Williamson and Skinner each had a triple.
“Yeah, it’s obviously a dream to be playing here at UCF. This was something I wanted to do out of high school but instead had the opportunity to play at Stetson. And last year, I was like, yeah, I’ll try the portal and luckily Coach Wallace called and the rest is history,” Moran said.
The victory resulted in UCF’s fifth straight win on Opening Knight and it’s 33rd consecutive win over the Saints. The Knights are now 71-4 all-time against Siena.
The Knights and Saints will continue the season-opening series on Saturday at 1 p.m. The two will close the weekend from John Euliano Park on Sunday at 1 p.m. Both games will air live on ESPN+.