ORLANDO – Fresh off a three-game sweep over Oklahoma State and having won nine of its last 10 contests, the UCF baseball team will head to Fort Worth, Texas, to continue Big 12 play this weekend at TCU.
The three-game league series will run Friday to Sunday at Lupton Stadium. Friday’s opener is set for 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT, while Saturday’s ballgame will begin at 6 p.m. ET/5 p.m. CT. The series finale will then be contested on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT. All three games will air live on ESPN+ and live stats will be available for each contest by visiting UCF.StatBroadcast.com.
After opening Big 12 play with their first three-game series sweep since joining the conference prior to the 2024 season after taking all three games over OK State, the Knights (13-6, 3-0 Big 12) then capped a 12-game homestand with an 8-5 midweek victory over Columbia on Tuesday. UCF went 9-3 during the homestand, which included winning nine of its last 10 games during the stretch.
Down a run in the first inning to the Lions, UCF answered in the bottom of the first with a sacrifice fly from John Smith III and an RBI groundout from Zak Skinner to take a 2-1 lead. Up 3-1 in the second, Smith III belted out his first home run in a Black and Gold uniform with a three-run home run to left field to extend UCF’s lead to 6-1.
Your @kia Electric Moment of the Game⚡️
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) March 18, 2026
John Smith III’s 3-run bomb🔥 pic.twitter.com/TNBGDTcfLJ
Columbia later made things interesting thanks to a fourth-inning grand slam from Jackson Brewer to pull within 7-5, but the Knight bullpen tossed five shutout innings of relief down the stretch to claim the midweek game 8-5. Max Murray surrendered just one run on one hit over 2.1 solid innings. Mateo Gray followed with a pair of scoreless frames and Michael Gillen finished things off by recording the final four outs to earn his first save as a Knight.
Senior Kevin Schoneboom earned the win in relief after tossing 1.1 innings of scoreless action to move to 1-0 on the season. Smith III led the way offensively by going 1-for-2 with the three-run home run, two runs scored and a season-high four RBIs. Ross was next by going 2-for-3 with a walk, an RBI, a run scored and two stolen bases, while Skinner finished 2-for-5 with an RBI.
Prior to the Columbia game, the Knights defeated the Cowboys by scores of 12-11, 6-1 and 6-5 following a walk-off win to secure the sweep last Sunday. The walk-off victory marked the Black and Gold’s third win in walk-off fashion in as many weeks.
UCF trailed 6-0 early in the opener but managed to reel off 11 unanswered runs in the middle innings and held on late to claim a wild conference opener by a score of 12-11. Pitching was key in game two, as Matt Sauser had another dominant outing in which he tossed a stellar 6.1 innings and allowed just one run on two hits to help lead the Knights to a 6-1 Saturday victory. James Hankerson Jr. was then the hero for the Black and Gold on Sunday, as he hit out a game-tying two-run home run in the sixth inning and later drove in the winning run in the last of the ninth with a walk-off RBI single through the right side of the infield to score Landon Moran from second base.
The senior first baseman Moran led the Black and Gold in the OK State series by hitting .455 with a double, four runs scored, and three runs driven in. Smith III was next with a .429 average, a pair of doubles, four runs scored and two RBIs, while Skinner batted .385 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Sauser led the way from the mound by allowing just one run on two hits while striking out four over 6.1 innings to move to 2-0 on the year. The left-hander Heyl had a strong series from the bullpen by tossing 2.1 innings of scoreless relief while Lariz also tossed 2.1 innings of shutout relief and earned the win on Sunday.
TCU will mark UCF’s fifth of seven straight opponents that made the NCAA Tournament a season ago.
Season Leaders
Senior outfielder John Smith III leads the Black and Gold on the season with a .413 batting average and is tied for the team lead in doubles with five. Infielder Austin Jacobs is next with a .356 clip while catcher Zak Skinner follows with a .354 clip and fronts the team with 18 runs batted in. Outfielder Andrew Williamson is batting .311 and paces the squad with 12 extra-base hits, four home runs, five doubles, three triples, 20 runs scored and six stolen bases. Right-hander Matt Sauser fronts the starting rotation with a 2-0 record and an impressive 0.36 ERA. Sauser has allowed just one run on the season in 25.0 innings of work and has struck out 20 batters.
About TCU
The Horned Frogs will enter the series with a 12-8 overall record and a 1-2 start to Big 12 Conference play after dropping two of three at Arizona State last weekend. Despite dropping the series, TCU has won four of its last six contests. The Horned Frogs, who hold wins on the year over No. 7 Arkansas and No. 23 Vanderbilt, had been nationally ranked for the first few weeks of the season before falling out the polls this week.
TCU was picked to win the Big 12 this season in the league’s preseason poll after taking third a season ago with a 39-20 overall record and a 19-11 conference clip. The Horned Frogs had their 2025 campaign come to a close at the Corvallis Regional.
The Preseason All-Big 12 Player of the Year Sawyer Strosnider leads the Frogs on the season with a .333 batting average, 11 extra-base hits, six home runs, 26 RBIs, 27 runs scored and seven stolen bases. Colton Griffin is next with a .306 average, while Preseason All-Big 12 honoree Chase Brunson is batting .286 with eight extra-base hits, 18 RBIs and 14 runs scored. Mason Brassfield leads TCU’s rotation with a 2-1 record, 5.23 ERA and 31 strikeouts over 20.2 innings. Walter Quinn fronts the bullpen with a 2-1 record, two saves, 4.40 ERA, and 21 strikeouts over 14.1 innings.
TCU is coached by head coach Kirk Saarloos. Saarloos is in his fifth season at the helm of the Horned Frogs and has led the team to a trio of NCAA Tournament appearances in his four previous seasons.
All-Time Series vs. TCU
Friday’s series opener will mark the 10th all-time meeting between the Knights and Horned Frogs but just the second series between the two as Big 12 Conference foes. UCF took the lone Big 12 series between the two last season, as the Knights took two of three at home. The series will mark UCF’s first trip to Fort Worth since 2006 when the Black and Gold also claimed the series by taking two of three.
Scheduled Starting Pitchers
UCF will go with a trio of junior right-handed pitchers this weekend in Braden Smith (2-1, 6.17 ERA) on Friday, Matt Sauser (2-0, 0.36 ERA) on Saturday., and Camden Wicker on Sunday (1-1, 3.86 ERA). Sauser leads the way, as he’s given up just one run on the season. The Horned Frogs will start southpaw Mason Brassfield (2-1, 5.23 ERA) on Friday, and right-handers Lance Davis (0-3, 8.68 ERA) and Trever Baumler (0-1, 5.27 ERA) on Saturday and Sunday.
Walk-Off Dubs
UCF has recorded a trio of Sunday walk-off victories in as many weeks. The Knights started a current stretch in where they have won eight of their last nine ballgames with a 2-1 walk-off win over in-state foe South Florida in the series finale on March 1. With the game all deadlocked at 2-1 heading into the last of the ninth, UCF quickly loaded the bases with nobody out. Zak Skinner then worked a full count with the bases loaded and came through with a sharp single through the right side of the infield to give the Knights the walk-off 2-1 victory.
Trailing 9-4 entering the bottom of the ninth against Murray State on Sunday March 8, the Knights put together a last-inning rally for the ages by scoring six runs to record their second walk-off win of the streak. UCF again quickly loaded the bases with nobody out. Javier Crespo started the scoring with an RBI single, and John Smith III came in to score on a wild pitch. James Hankerson Jr. then made it a 9-8 score with a two-run pinch hit single and Jordan Lodise evened the score with a safety squeeze. After a sac bunt moved the winning run to third base with only one out, Cayden Gaskin delivered a walk-off pinch-hit RBI single to left center to complete the epic comeback.
UCF kept the Sunday walk-off streak alive with by pulling out a 6-5 walk-off win over Oklahoma State on Sunday, March 15 to record its first Big 12 series sweep since joining the conference prior to the 2024 season. After OK State tied things up in the top of the ninth, the Black and Gold offense didn’t waste any time rallying as Landon Moran quickly reached with a sharp leadoff single into right field. DeAmez Ross then dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move him into scoring position and James Hankerson Jr. plated Moran with a walk-off RBI single through the right side of the infield on the first pitch of the at-bat.
Braden Smith Named to National Pitcher of the Year Watch List
UCF junior right-handed pitcher Braden Smith has been named to the National Pitcher of the Year Award Watch List as announced by the College Sports Foundation. Smith was named to the watch list after holding a 2-1 record and 17 strikeouts while walking just three batters over 23.1 innings. He also holds a 1.46 WHIP as UCF’s Friday night starter.
Smith is one of 13 pitchers from the Big 12 to make the cut and one of 141 pitchers in all.
Sauser Named Big 12 Pitcher of the Week
Matt Sauser earned Big 12 Pitcher of the Week honors for the second time of his career on Feb. 23 after tossing 6.0 dominant innings at No. 20 Miami on Feb. 17. The right-hander was nearly perfect in the outing, as he did not allow a hit over six innings of action. The Bloomington, Illinois native issued just one walk and struck out six over the six hitless and scoreless frames.
In all, Sauser retired the Hurricanes in order in five of his six innings of work. He also allowed just one baserunner to reach on the basepaths.
Williamson Tabbed Preseason All-Big 12
A season removed from earning All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors, junior outfielder Andrew Williamson has been named to the 2026 Preseason All-Big 12 Baseball Team. He enters the season off a stellar sophomore campaign in which he slashed .352/.662/.448 for the Black and Gold. The native of St. Petersburg, Florida led the Knights in nearly every offensive category a season ago in which he batted .352 with team-leading tallies of 13 home runs, 19 doubles, four triples, 58 runs scored and 53 runs batted in. Williamson also led the way in walks (34), on-base percentage (.448), slugging (.662), and finished second in stolen bases by going a perfect 13-for-13.
Williamson led the Knights with a 31‑game reached‑base streak, along with 26 multi‑hit games and 16 multi‑RBI performances in 2025. He also started all 55 games in right field a season ago.
Dorsey and Jones Named to NCBWA Stopper of Year Preseason Watch List
Right-handed pitchers Chandler Dorsey and Evan Jones have been named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Preseason Watch List. Both are new to the Knights this season, as Dorsey is a senior transfer from LSU while Jones is a redshirt junior from Western Kentucky.
A season ago in Baton Rouge, Dorsey posted an ERA just over five over 5.0 innings of work. He struck out four and tossed scoreless outings in three of his five appearances to help the Tigers claim the 2025 National Championship. During his sophomore campaign at South Florida, he had a stellar season in which he went 2-1 with eight saves and a 3.60 ERA. Over 30.0 innings of work that season, the 6-4 right-hander struck out 41 batters and limited opposing hitters to a .180 average.
During the 2025 season at WKU, Jones compiled a 1-1 record with four saves and a 3.18 ERA. He also limited opposing hitters to a .227 average in 11.1 innings of work. Over 14 appearances, he tossed 10 scoreless outings which included a stretch that spanned over seven consecutive games.
Williamson Named to Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List
In an award given to the top amateur baseball player in the nation, UCF junior outfielder Andrew Williamson was named to the Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List. Jimenez was one of 55 players from both the college and high school ranks and five from the Big 12 Conference to make the cut. Williamson slashed .352/.662/.448 in 2025 with 13 HRs, 19 2Bs, 58 runs and 53 RBIs.
Trio of Knights Named to D1Baseball’s Preseason Player List
A trio of Knights were named to D1Baseball’s Preseason Player Lists prior to the season in outfielders Andrew Williamson and DeAmez Ross, and catcher Zak Skinner. The junior OF Williamson led the group by checking in at No. 14 on D1Baseball’s Top 150 Outfielders. The senior transfer Skinner was next by being ranked No. 47 on the Top 50 Catchers List, while the senior Ross was right behind him by coming in at No. 53 on the Outfielders List.
On Deck for UCF
Following the series, the Knights will return to the Sunshine State to face Stetson in DeLand on Tuesday, March 24 at 6:30 p.m. The Black and Gold will then return home to host the defending Big 12 tournament champion Arizona Wildcats next weekend.