SALT LAKE CITY – JD Rogers went a perfect 4-for-4 with two home runs and seven runs batted in to lead UCF to a 12-2 run-rule series-opening victory at Utah on Friday night at America First Ballpark in Salt Lake City.
Rogers finished just a triple shy of the cycle in the contest. He started things off with a solo home run in the second inning. He later doubled home a run in the fifth, blasted out a grand slam to deep center field in the seventh, and capped his stellar performance with an RBI single in the eighth. The two-homer game marked his second in the past three games, as he now has homered five times in four games. The seven-RBI performance marked the first by a Knight since May 2, 2023, when Lex Boedicker drove in seven runs against North Florida.
WE HAVE A 460-FOOT GRAND SLAM FROM JD ROGERS HERE IN SALT LAKE CITY 💣💣💣💣 pic.twitter.com/PqogSV7Ubn
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) April 25, 2026
The Knights improved to 23-15 overall and 12-7 in league play to remain in a tie for third place in the Big 12 standings. The Utes dropped to 21-16 overall and 9-10 in conference play with the setback. The two will conclude the series with a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 4 p.m. ET/2 p.m. MT.
“It started with Mateo Gray. He battled through some tough situations and managed to get himself out of three or four jams to give us a chance,” head UCF coach Rich Wallace said. “Then JD Rogers: the solo homer, the walk, the two-out double off the wall, the grand slam, and the RBI single in the eighth. You can’t ask for more out of a single offensive player than what he did tonight.”
The Knights jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when Rogers smashed out his fourth home run in his last four games with a solo shot in the top of the second inning. The round tripper was clocked at 109 MPH off the bat and traveled 427 feet to deep right field.
JD Rogers smashes out his 4th home run in as many games to give us the early lead 💪 pic.twitter.com/tsw3iKGWbj
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) April 25, 2026
The Utes then threatened in the third by getting two runners aboard with nobody out, but UCF starter Mateo Gray responded by retiring the next three hitters he faced to strand the runners.
The Black and Gold offense then added to their lead in the fourth with a trio of runs to make it 4-0. The Knights quickly loaded the bases with nobody out following singles from Javier Crespo and Landon Moran, as well as a walk drawn by Rogers. DeAmez Ross then plated the first run of the frame with an RBI fielder’s choice. Jordan Lodise followed with a sacrifice fly to deep right field, and Andrew Williamson capped the scoring in the frame with an RBI infield single to the right side of the infield.
Utah got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth via an RBI fielder’s choice from Jet Gilliam, but UCF responded with back-to-back two-out doubles in the top of the fifth to make it 5-1. Moran had the first double of the frame with a two-out double to left-center and Rogers continued to swing a hot bat by lining a ball off the wall in left-center to bring in Moran.
The Black and Gold offense continued to produce in the sixth, as John Smith III drove in a run with an RBI fielder’s choice to extend their lead to 6-1. The Utes then countered with a solo home run from Cal Miller in the bottom of the inning to make it 6-2.
The Black and Gold then put up a crooked number in the seventh thanks to back-to-back home runs from Rogers and Ross. With the bases loaded and nobody out in the frame, Rogers launched a ball off the top of the batter’s eye in deep center field for a 460-foot grand slam. The round tripper marked his second home run of the game and his fifth in the last four games. Ross then followed with a solo home run to right-center to make it 11-2 Knights. Ross’ round tripper marked his second of the season and traveled 406 feet.
DeAmez Ross goes back-to-back with a solo homer 💥 pic.twitter.com/4pbtcGTYuZ
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) April 25, 2026
With Kevin Schoneboom on in relief and putting zeros on the board, UCF got back-to-back singles from Zak Skinner and Crespo in the top of the eighth. Rogers then capped his career outing with an RBI single to right field and extend the Black and Gold’s lead to 12-2.
Schoneboom then came out for his third inning of relief and promptly retires the Utes in order in the bottom of the eighth—which included a pair of strikeouts to complete the victory.
Schoneboom gets the K to complete the victory! pic.twitter.com/7ZAXjmYcZC
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) April 25, 2026
UCF starter Gray went five-plus innings and allowed just two runs while striking out one and not walking a batter to move to a perfect 5-0 on the season. Schoneboom then tossed a season-high 3.0 innings of hitless and scoreless relief by striking out a season-best four batters to earn his first save of the season. Utah starter Colter McAnelly was tagged with the loss to drop to 2-5 on the year.
Rogers paced the Knights at the plate by going a career-best 4-for-4 with seven RBIs, two home runs, a double, a walk and two runs scored. Skinner was next by going 3-for-5 with two runs scored, while Williamosn, Cresopo and Moran all collected two hits apiece. Miller led Utah by going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
The contest marked just UCF’s fourth game in program history in the Beehive State. The Knights are now 3-1 in the state of Utah after previously taking two of three at BYU last season.
On Deck
With inclement weather slated for Sunday, the two will now close the series with a Saturday doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m. ET/2 p.m. MT. Both games of the twin bill will air live on ESPN+ and FM 96.9 The Game. Following the conclusion of the series, UCF will return to the Sunshine State to take on Stetson in midweek action on Wednesday, April 29 in Lakeland as part of the Tigertown Collegiate Classic.
Postgame with JD ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/bJvXEFMdYJ
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) April 25, 2026