AUBURN, Ala. – Andrew Williamson homered three times and UCF scored nine unanswered runs to defeat NC State 9-3 in the teams’ first game of the NCAA Auburn Regional in a game that began on Friday night and was completed on Saturday morning at Plainsman Park.
The three-homer game marked the first of Williamson’s career and the Black and Gold’s first since May 21, 2024, when former Knight Danny Neri homered three times in a Big 12 Tournament win over Cincinnati.
With the victory, the second-seeded Knights (32-21) advance on to face the fourth-seeded Milwaukee Panthers in the winner’s bracket of the Auburn Regional on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT. The third-seeded Wolfpack (32-23) drops to an elimination game against the top-seed and No. 4 national seed Auburn Tigers on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT.
“Obviously, proud of the guy’s effort with all of the outside stuff that happened with the weather, with the starting and stopping. To compete against a team that’s as talented and well-coached as a team as you’re going to face in NC State. To come out in the end, I couldn’t be more proud of our guys,” head UCF coach Rich Wallace said.
With NC State holding to a 3-0 lead after scoring a trio of runs in the top of the first inning, the Knights answered right back, however, with two runs of their own in the bottom of the frame thanks to a Williamson two-run homer to make it 3-2. With John Smith III on first base after reaching on a fielder’s choice, Williamson drove a high fly ball over the right field wall for his team-leading 13th home run to cut the deficit to one.
WILLY PUTS US RIGHT BACK IN THE GAME WITH A TWO-RUN BOMB 💥
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) May 30, 2026
📺 ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/mKtM360lvo
With one out and the bases empty in the bottom of the second inning, the freshman Jordan Lodise tied things up with a solo home run to deep center field in the first regional at-bat of his career to make it 3-3. Lodise’s bomb marked the fifth of the season for the freshman and traveled 401 feet.
Jordan Lodise SMOKES one 401 FT to dead center and WE ARE TIED in Auburn 😤😤
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) May 30, 2026
📺 ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/kEYtcT1Lpb
NC State threatened in the top of the third by getting two men in scoring position with two outs, but UCF starter Camden Wicker responded with an inning-ending strikeout to escape the jam. The Black and Gold continued to hit the ball in the bottom of the inning en route to taking a 5-3 lead. Smith III led off the frame with his first triple as a Knight and Zak Skinner drove him home with a one-out RBI single to right center. With Skinner leading from second after advancing on a wild pitch with two outs in the inning, Landon Moran brought him home with a clutch RBI single to left field to give the Knights the two-run advantage.
The Pack loaded the bases in the fourth but UCF reliever Kaniel Rosado managed to pitch out of it by drawing a flyout off the bat of Sheldon Johnson. Rosado continued to pitch well by stranding a runner in the top of the fifth with an inning-ending strikeout.
Following back-to-back singles to start the last of the fifth from DeAmez Ross and Smith III, the junior right fielder Williamson blasted out a three-run bomb to deep right field to put the Knights on top by a score of 8-3. Williamson’s home run cleared the bullpen and traveled 445 feet. It marked the third multi-homer game of his career.
445 FEET 🤯
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) May 30, 2026
Andrew Williamson with a 3 run no doubter for @UCF_Baseball to lead 8-3!#RoadToOmaha x 🎥 ESPN2pic.twitter.com/7CgWMqY2Mw
With Rosado and Max Murray combining to put up zeros from the bullpen, Williamson then belted out his third home run of the game with a solo shot to right field in the bottom of the seventh inning. Williamson’s third round tripper of the game traveled 403 feet and marked his team-leading 15th of the season. It also marked the 33rd of his career to move him into ninth place in the all-time UCF record books in that category.
DAT BOY ANDREW WILLIAMSON DOES IT AGAIN 🔥🔥🔥
— 11Point7 College Baseball (@11point7) May 30, 2026
3RD OF THE NIGHT. KILFFFF pic.twitter.com/Mf2RmzJluM
NC State then got a two-out double from Chris McHugh in the top of the eighth before play was stopped and eventually suspended for the night due to lightning and rain. The two then resumed play on Saturday at 11 a.m. CT.
When play resumed on Saturday morning, redshirt freshman reliever Anthony Lariz entered and struck out the first man he faced to strand a runner and send it to the last of the eighth. Landon Moran then banged a double off the top of the wall in the bottom of the eighth but was stranded as the score remained 9-3 heading to the ninth.
After giving up a single to start the ninth, Lariz then retired the next three batters he faced, which included a game-ending strikeout, to seal the victory for the Knights.
The freshman southpaw Rosado recorded his first collegiate win to move to 1-3 on the season Rosado tossed 2.1 scoreless innings in which he allowed just two hits while striking out one. Fellow freshmen Murray and Lariz followed with scoreless outings, as Murray tossed 1.2 innings of scoreless relief while Lariz finished things off with the final inning and a third. The trio of freshmen combined for 5.1 innings of scoreless relief in the ballgame. NC State starter Anderson Nance was tagged with the loss to drop to 4-3 on the year.
Freshmen locked down Game 1 🙌
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) May 30, 2026
🔒 2.1 IP Kaniel Rosado
🔒 1.2 IP Max Murray
🔒 1.1 IP Anthony Lariz
🔒 0 runs, 4 Ks, 5 H pic.twitter.com/2M3YtaVgFn
Williamson led the way offensively by going 3-for-4 with three home run and a career-high six RBIs. He also scored three runs. Ross, Smith III and Moran were next by collecting two hits apiece. Mikey Ryan paced the Wolfpack by going 3-for-3 with a run scored and two runs driven in.
With the three-homer game, Williamson also became the program’s first Knight to achieve the feat in NCAA Regional play. The six-RBI performance also marked a career-best for Williamson and the most for UCF since JD Rogers had a seven-RBI night in a win at Utah last month (April 24).
“We had a great approach to start off the game, and after that, just trying to adjust with what they were going to throw after the first at-bat. I was just trying to stay true to my approach and be able to do a job whenever there were guys on base,” Williamson said. “It was nice to have the home run(s), anything to move the runner or score the runner would have been nice. Thankful that I was able to scratch across some runs for our team.”
The contest featured a two-hour weather delay before play began on Friday night followed by another hour delay before play was suspended on Friday night.
The appearance in the NCAA Auburn Regional marks UCF’s 14th regional appearance and the second in the last three years for the Knights. It also marks just the program’s second outside the state of Florida in program history
On Deck
The Knights will next face the four-seed Milwaukee in a winner’s bracket contest on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT on ESPN+. The winner will advance to the regional final on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT while the loser will fall to an elimination game on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT.