ORLANDO – The UCF baseball team got six solid innings from starter Braden Smith and scored six runs in the late stages of the contest to pull out an 8-3 victory over Murray State in the series opener on Friday night at John Euliano Park.
Two days removed from tallying a season-high 17 hits, the Knight offense continued to produce as it put up 14 hits in ballgame. Eight different Black and Gold batters recorded hits and Austin Jacobs and Javier Crespo led the way by posting three hits apiece.
UCF improved to 7-5 with the victory and has now won three straight, while the Racers, who were picked to win the Missouri Valley Conference after making it to Omaha last season, dropped to 10-4 with the setback.
“Murray State is a good team. This was a one-run game in the sixth inning, and we had to execute some things down the stretch offensively and got some big hits up-and-down the lineup. We also did a nice job on the base paths of creating some runs. And Mateo Gray was an absolute energy-giver out of the bullpen to help us close this out,” head UCF coach Rich Wallace said.
The Knights jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Andrew Williamson pulled a double down the rightfield line and John Smith III followed with a double of his own to drive him in and give the Black and Gold the early advantage.
Back-to-back doubles get us on the board!😍 pic.twitter.com/P0KMMWaqSo
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) March 6, 2026
The Racers picked up a run on a solo home run from Kainen Jorge in the top of the fourth to tie things up. UCF then responded in the bottom of the inning with an unearned run to take a 2-1 lead.
With Braden Smith looking strong on the mound by having allowed just one run on two hits into the sixth inning, Murray State then tied the score at 2-2 via a sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth. The Knights quickly answered, however, with four runs in the last of the sixth to take a 6-2 advantage.
With Landon Moran and Jordan Lodise on the base paths and one out, Austin Jacobs recorded his third hit of the game with an RBI single through the left side to give the Black and Gold the lead. Senior DeAmez Ross followed with an RBI single of his own up the middle, and after loading the bases UCF picked two more runs up on a bases-loaded walk and another on a wild pitch.
Jacobs 3rd hit of the game gives us the lead 🤩 pic.twitter.com/KYQLICyNMK
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) March 7, 2026
With UCF having gone to the bullpen and Mateo Gray retired the Racers in order in the top of the seventh, the Knights added two more runs to put the game away. Following a Moran single and a Cayden Gaskin sac bunt, Lodise then plated Moran with an RBI double to left center. With runners on the corners and two outs, the Knights then worked a double steal to perfection as Jacobs stole second and Lodise home thanks to a nice swim move on his slide into the plate to avoid the tag.
Lodi with the steal at home🤯@Kia Electric Moment of the Game pic.twitter.com/FuXY5moWUP
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) March 7, 2026
The sophomore reliever Gray then pitched around a two-out hit in the eighth and gave up just one run in the ninth to close things out.
Braden Smith earned the win on the mound to move to 2-1 on the season after surrendering just two runs on four hits while striking out five and not walking a batter over 6.0 solid innings of work. Gray then earned his first collegiate save after allowing just one run on four hits while fanning three over the final three innings. Murray State starter Nic Schutte was tagged with his first loss of the season to fall to 3-1 on the year.
“Braden Smith looked more like himself tonight. The fastball command was better. The slider and cutter were in there and he used them on and off the plate. The change up was in play, so it was nice to see,” Wallace added.
Jacobs led UCF offensively by going 3-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI while Crespo went 3-for-5. Lodise too had a nice game by posting a 2-for-3 performance at the plate with a double, a walk, an RBI and three runs scored, while Moran too had multiple hits by going 2-for-5 with two runs scored.
The contest marked UCF’s fifth game of a current 12-game homestand.
On Deck
The Knight and Racers will continue the series with a Saturday night contest at 6 p.m. The two will then close the series on Sunday at noon. Following the Murray State series, UCF will welcome No. 21 Miami to John Euliano Park on Wednesday, March 11.
Gray gets the strikeout to seal the victory! pic.twitter.com/LVmtgDXTeU
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) March 7, 2026