LAWRENCE, Kan. – The No. 12 UCF baseball team found itself on the wrong side of 6-3 and 3-1 scores to drop a Big 12 doubleheader to Kansas on Saturday afternoon at Hoglund Ballpark.
The Knights drop to second place in the Big 12 standings with the setbacks, as they are now 20-12 overall and 10-5 in league play. KU moves into first place in the conference standings with a 25-10 overall record and 12-3 Big 12 mark.
Game One
Kansas broke a scoreless tie in the second inning with a two-run home run off the bat of Max Soliz Jr. to take a 2-0 lead. The Jayhawks later loaded the bases in the third and picked up a two-out bases-clearing double from Josh Dykhoff to make it 5-0.
Senior right-hander Roman Kimball then entered in relief for the Knights and tossed 3.0 scoreless innings to keep it a 5-0 score. The three innings marked a season-high for Kimball.
Trailing 5-0 in the seventh, Landon Moran reached with a two-out single. DeAmez Ross then drove in UCF’s first run of the game with an RBI triple to left field to plate Moran and make it 5-1.
DeAmez gets us on the board with an RBI triple. pic.twitter.com/sFGw8kQYDl
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) April 11, 2026
After southpaw Kaniel Rosado tossed a scoreless bottom of the seventh, the Knights offense made things interesting in the eighth by loading the bases with nobody out. John Smith III drove in the first run of the frame with a sacrifice fly to left. Freshman catcher Dallas Brooks, who had entered the game as a defensive replacement the previous inning, followed with a big RBI single through the left side of the infield in his first collegiate at-bat to make it 5-3. The Jayhawks managed to get out of the inning following a controversial strikeout and a fielder’s choice.
The freshman Dallas Brooks delivers in his first collegiate AB with an RBI single❗ pic.twitter.com/yObrK3zAyh
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) April 11, 2026
KU then added an unearned run in the last of the eighth to take a 6-3 lead.
The Knights went down in order in the ninth, as Kansas held on to take the first game of the twin bill.
Camden Wicker suffered the defeat on the mound to drop to 3-2 on the year. Preseason All-Big 12 honoree Dominic Voegele earned the win for the Jayhawks to move to 3-2 on the year after allowing three runs on five hits over 7.0 innings. UCF relievers Kimball and Rosado combined to allow just one unearned run over the final 4.1 innings.
Williamson paced the Knight offense by going 2-for-3 with a walk while Ross went 1-for-4 with an RBI triple. Dykhoff led KU by going 2-for-4 with three runs batted in while Soliz Jr. scored three runs.
Game Two
With the Jayhawks holding to an early 1-0 lead in the second game of the twin bill, UCF evened the score with a run in the top of the third inning. Ross started the inning with a leadoff bunt single. He later moved to second on an error on KU’s pitcher and advanced to third on a sac bunt. He then scored on an RBI single up the middle from Cayden Gaskin.
Gaskin plates Ross with an RBI single to tie things up 😤 pic.twitter.com/66YIoSICxB
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) April 11, 2026
Kansas quickly responded, however, with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third to make it 3-1. Cade Baldridge had an RBI single, and Augusto Mungarrieta added another run for the Jayhawks on a sacrifice fly.
Senior reliever Kris Sosnowski did a nice job in relief in the middle innings by putting up zeros over the next couple of innings. He tied a season-high with 2.2 innings of scoreless relief. KU looked to score in the last of the sixth by getting a leadoff double, but Matthew Heyl and Kevin Schoneboom came on and managed to combine to strand a pair of runners on the base paths in the frame to keep it a 3-1 score.
The Knights then looked to rally in the top of the seventh, as Ross led things off with a single. He later stole second and Gaskin moved him to third with a single to center field to put runners on the corners with one away. KU reliever Toby Scheidt responded with a fielder’s choice and a pop out to end the threat.
Kansas looked to add to its lead in the late innings by having a runner aboard in each frame, but Andrew Williamson ran down a deep flyball down to end the seventh and Anthony Lariz and Evan Jones combined to strike out the side in the eighth.
The senior captain Ross continued his strong day of hitting for the Black and Gold in the ninth with a one-out double. Gaskin later worked a two-out walk to put the tying runs on the base paths. Austin Jacobs then worked a full count and hit a high fly ball into shallow right field that KU’s right fielder Jordan Bach looked to have lost the ball in the lights. Bach somehow managed to see the ball at the last second and make a game-saving catch just before the ball hit the turf to seal the win for Kansas.
Ross led the Knights in the game by going 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored, while Gaskin went 2-for-2 with an RBI and a pair of walks. Baldridge paced the Jayhawks by going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
In his first start since the TCU series, Matt Sauser was tagged with the loss to drop to 2-2 on the year. KU’s Mason Cook earned the win to moved to 2-1 while Boede Rahe tossed a scoreless ninth to earn his third save of the season.
The series loss marked UCF’s first in conference play and the first time the Knights have been swept on the season. The twin bill marked just the Black and Gold’s second of the season and their first in conference play since May 17, 2024, at Baylor.
On Deck
The Knights will now return to John Euliano Park to open a four-game homestand next week. UCF will first host in-state foe Jacksonville on Tuesday in midweek action before hosting Cincinnati for a three-game Big 12 series next weekend. All four games will air live on ESPN+.