ORLANDO – Down 9-4 in the bottom of the ninth, UCF Baseball rallied back, scoring six runs to secure a miraculous 10-9 walk-off victory over Murray State on Sunday afternoon. The walk-off was solidified by two ‘Nauts coming off the bench, as a Cayden Gaskin single to center field sent James Hankerson Jr. home for the winning run.
UCF’s win streak extends to five, walking away with a series sweep over the 2025 College World Series qualifying Racers. The Knights move to 9-5 on the season, while Murray State falls to 10-6.
Trailing 9-4 in the bottom of the ninth, the Citronauts, poised to make a miracle Space Game comeback, by loading the bases with no outs after the first three at-bats, set up by Andrew Williamson and John Smith III singles and Zak Skinner being hit by a pitch.
Javier Crespo then singled to shallow right to trim the deficit down to four. Then, a wild pitch advanced all runners, sending Smith III home to trail only three. Landon Moran would work a walk to load the bases up once again down 9-6, still with no outs.
Hankerson Jr. stepped up to the plate next, coming off the bench, and delivered a key two-run single up the middle, sending Skinner and Crespo home to cut the lead down to one. Jordan Lodise then sent the game-tying run home on a safety squeeze bunt to bring in Moran and deadlock the score at 9-9. A sacrifice bunt by Austin Jacobs would pin the potential walk-off runner Hankerson Jr. to third base.
James Hankerson Jr. drives in 2⃣ runs pic.twitter.com/iQrJ4e6mPU
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) March 8, 2026
Gaskin then entered as a pinch-hitter and promptly delivered a walk-off RBI single to launch Hankerson Jr. home, completing the comeback victory. The epic comeback marked one of the greatest ninth-inning comebacks by UCF in program history, as well as head coach Rich Wallace’s third large-deficit last-inning come-from-behind victory of his Black and Gold baseball career.
GASKIN WITH THE WALK-OFF SINGLE💥💥 pic.twitter.com/bUimiggakp
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) March 8, 2026
All three games involving Wallace finished with identical 10-9 scores. During Wallace’s senior season he helped the Knights rally for five runs in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings and UCF would go on to win that game 10-9 via a walk-off victory in the bottom of the 12 over Campbell on April 3, 2003. Then as an assistant coach on Feb. 25, 2008, UCF rallied for five runs in the bottom of the seventh in a shortened game due to travel against No. 5 Missouri to knock off the Tigers via a walk-off win.
“Max Murray was outstanding to go out there and do what he did for us on the mound in the ninth. I’m very proud of where he has come from in the fall until now. And then to get to the bottom of the ninth and put together at-bat after at-bat and then execute a couple of things with the Lodise safety squeeze to the Jacobs sac bunt. And then for both CG (Cayden Gaskin) and Hank (James Hankerson Jr.), after sitting over there for hours, to deliver for us in a big spot,” head coach Rich Wallace said.
Murray State responded first, scoring two runs in the top of the second with a sacrifice fly and home run to left center off the bat of Anthony Perritano. UCF would score three runs in the bottom of the second to end the inning with a 3-2 lead, led by a single Zachary Malvasio single, a Jacobs bases-loaded walk, and a DeAmez Ross sacrifice fly.
After a series of scoreless innings, the Racers knotted the contest up at 3-3 in the sixth with a sacrifice fly to center field. Murray State would also score in the seventh on an RBI double from Perritano to lead 4-3.
In the bottom of the seventh, with bases loaded, Moran reached on a fielder’s choice to send John Smith III home, leveling the score to 4-4 heading into the eighth.
The tie score wouldn’t last long, however, as Murray State would propelled the lead to 9-4 with a five-run eighth inning, jumpstarted by a Connor Chisom solo home run and capped by a bases-clearing double from Tyler Butina.
Freshman Max Murray then entered from the bullpen for the Knights in the top of the ninth and promptly retired the Racers in order to give some momentum to UCF heading into the bottom of the ninth.
Smith III led the way for the Citronauts offensively on the day by going 4-for-5 on the afternoon with a pair of doubles and two runs scored. Lodise followed by going 2-for-3, while Crespo went 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored. Hankerson went 1-for-1 with two RBIs and scored the game-winning run.
In relief, the freshman Murray earned his first career victory to move to 1-0 after tossing a scoreless ninth. Murray State’s Reese Oakley was tagged with the loss to drop to 2-1.
The contest marked the seventh game of a current 12-game homestand for the Black and Gold and UCF’s second Space Game of the season.
On Deck
The Knights remain home for an upcoming matchup against No. 21 Miami on Wednesday March 11 at 6 p.m. Following the midweek contest, UCF will open Big 12 Conference play with a home series against Oklahoma State next weekend.
