ORLANDO – Behind a two-home run night from John Smith III and a season-high four homers in all, the UCF baseball team moved to 6-1 in Big 12 play with an 11-6 victory over the defending Big 12 tournament champion Arizona Wildcats in the series opener on Friday night at John Euliano Park.
Smith III hit out a two-run shot in the fourth inning and later belted out a three-run round tripper in the eighth inning to put the game away. The senior left fielder finished 2-for-4 with three runs scored and a season-high five runs batted in. The multiple home run night marked Smith III’s first in a UCF uniform. Javier Crespo also hit out a two-run home run in the second inning and Andrew Williamson added his team-leading sixth homer of the season in the seventh.
These John Smith III homers landed in downtown Oviedo 💣💣@Kia Electric Moments of the Game ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/CQwPTJPjjI
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) March 28, 2026
The Knights moved to 16-8 overall and remain atop the conference standings at 6-1 in league play. UCF has won seven of its last nine games. Arizona dropped to 9-16 on the season and 2-5 in league play.
“It started with Braden Smith on the mound. He had a little hiccup in the first but gave us a quality start and kind of allowed us to settle into the game,” head UCF coach Rich Wallace said. “I was impressed that anytime they scored, we answered offensively. We were able to do that in a couple of different ways, but it definitely makes it easier when you are hitting the ball out of the ballpark.”
The Wildcats, who advanced to the Men’s College World Series a season ago, jumped out to an early 2-0 lead thanks to a two-run first-inning home run from Nate Novitske. UCF starter Braden Smith settled down from there, however, by retiring the next six batters he faced to keep the Wildcats off the scoreboard again until the fifth inning.
The Knights countered back with a two-run home run off the bat of Crespo in the bottom of the second inning to deadlock the score at 2-2. Crespo’s homer just got out to left and marked his second of the season. The Black and Gold added three more runs in the third inning to take a 5-2 advantage. With Cayden Gaskin on base following a one-out single, Williamson doubled him home with a hard-hit double off the wall in left center to give the Knights their first lead of the game. Smith III then immediately followed by drilling out a two-run round tripper to deep left field to extend UCF’s lead. Smith III’s first homer of the game traveled 391 feet and was clocked at 102 MPH off the bat.
AND WE ARE TIED 💥
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) March 27, 2026
Crespo launches his second HR of the season! pic.twitter.com/eAh6NnQ9Mi
Arizona then hit out a solo home run in the fifth inning to make it 5-3, but the UCF offense again responded with a run in the bottom half of the frame to extend its lead to 6-3. Zak Skinner hit a line drive to center field that was misplayed and allowed Smith III to come all the way around from first base to add to the Knights’ lead.
With a runner in scoring position in the top of the sixth, the Black and Gold then went to the bullpen, and the senior captain Kris Sosnowski retired three straight hitters to strand the runner. The Wildcats managed to add a run in the top of the seventh but and looked for more but UCF closer Evan Jones entered and immediately drew an inning-ending fielder’s choice that the freshman Jordan Lodise made a nice play on to get the out at second base and strand a pair of runners.
Williamson then hit out his team-leading sixth home run in the season with a solo shot to the opposite field in the bottom of the seventh and the Knights added an insurance run on a Landon Moran two-out RBI single to make it an 8-4 score.
Look at @AndrewWGNF11, so inspirational 👏
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) March 28, 2026
Willy blasts his team-leading sixth HR of the season and 25th of his career 📊 pic.twitter.com/FBeKKgmd0U
Arizona again made things interesting with a two-run home run off the bat of Jackson Forbes in the top of the eighth to pull within 8-6, but UCF countered by getting two men aboard with two away in the last of the inning to set the table for Smith III. The senior left fielder then pulled out his second deep home run of the game—this time a three-run shot—to give the Knights some breathing room. Smith III’s second home run of the game marked his fourth of the season as all four have come in the last week and a half. The home run too traveled 391 feet.
Jones remained on the bump for the Knights in the ninth and promptly retired the Wildcats in order to seal the victory.
UCF starter Braden Smith earned the victory to move to 3-1 on the year. The junior right-hander allowed just three runs on four hits while striking out two over five-plus innings of work. After Sosnowski pitched well for 1.2 innings, Jones then earned his second save of the year after giving up just two runs on one hit over the final 2.1 innings. Arizona starter Owen Kramkowski was tagged with the loss to drop to 1-3 on the season.
A total of four Knights tallied multiple hits in the contest. Behind Smith III’s five RBI night, Williamson finished 2-for-4 with a double, a homer, three runs scored and two RBIs, while Moran went 2-for-4 with an RBI of his own. The catcher Skinner finished with a game-high three hits, as he went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a walk. Forbes and Novitske paced Arizona by each driving in two runs apiece.
The contest marked the first all-time meeting between UCF and Arizona. The Wildcats also marked UCF’s seventh consecutive opponent that advanced to the NCAA Tournament a season ago.
On Deck
The Knights will look to take their third consecutive Big 12 series with game two on Saturday at 6 p.m. The series finale will then come on Sunday at 1 p.m. Following this weekend’s action, the Black and Gold will hit the road next week for a midweek game at Penn State followed by a Big 12 series at No. 15 West Virginia.
Dingers party on a Friday night😮💨 pic.twitter.com/L7ID2cbtpk
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) March 28, 2026