BOCA RATON, Fla. – The UCF baseball team jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, but Florida Atlantic responded by scoring six of the next seven runs to pull out a 6-5 in-state midweek contest over the Knights on Tuesday night at FAU Baseball Stadium.
The Black and Gold dropped to 27-18 overall with the setback while FAU improved to 25-23 with the win. The contest marked the lone season meeting between the Sunshine State foes.
UCF loaded the bases with nobody out in the top of the second and scored four runs to jump out to a quick 4-0 advantage. Following back-to-back walks by Javier Crespo and Landon Moran, along with a single from DeAmez Ross, freshman catcher Dallas Brooks drove in his second and third runs of the season with a two-run single through the right side of the infield. After a bunt from Jordan Lodise moved Ross to third base, Austin Jacobs dropped down a safety squeeze to bring him home to make it 3-0. Andrew Williamson then capped the scoring in the frame with a sharp RBI single up the middle.
Freshman Dallas Brooks plates the first ✌️ runs of the game with a two-run single! pic.twitter.com/oQCJmMj1zG
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) May 5, 2026
The Owls struck back with four runs of their own in the bottom of the second inning to deadlock the score at 4-4. Patrick Ward had the big hit in the frame with a two-run home run to left field.
Zak Skinner led off the third by getting hit by a pitch. He later advanced to second base on a wild pitch and came in to score on a hard-hit RBI double to the gap in left-center off the bat of Crespo to give the Knights a 5-4 advantage.
Crespo ropes an RBI double to the gap to bring in Skinner 👏 pic.twitter.com/QiwQbdQZMa
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) May 5, 2026
Freshman southpaw Wyatt Dion then entered on the mound in relief and pitched well. In just his second appearance of the season, Dion tossed a season-long outing of 2.1 scoreless innings. He also didn’t surrender a hit and allowed just three baserunners to reach.
Infielder Braden Calise was then called upon to take the mound for the Knights for the second time on the year, and the senior managed to escape a jam in the bottom of the fifth by drawing an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play to keep it a 5-4 Black and Gold lead.
FAU then rallied in the last of the sixth. The Owls got a pair of runners aboard with one away in the inning and Marshall Lipsey delivered a bloop RBI single to center field to tie it up. Florida Atlantic then took the lead on a sacrifice fly from Michael Perazza.
Max Murray and Zachary Malvasio then tossed a couple of scoreless innings of relief for the Knights to give UCF a chance down just a run entering the ninth. The Black and Gold got a leadoff single from senior center fielder Ross in the top of the ninth to put the tying runner on the base paths. But FAU reliever Garrett Grant responded by retiring three straight pinch hitters to seal the ballgame for the Owls.
Florida Atlantic reliever Dalton Robinson earned the win in relief to move to 1-2 on the year after striking out eight over 4.0 innings of work. Grant earned his first save of the season after tossing the two scoreless innings. UCF’s Calise was tagged with his first loss to drop to 0-1.
Ross led the Knights offensively by going 2-for-4 with a run scored, while Brooks went 1-for-3 with two runs batted in. Crespo too had a nice day by going 1-for-3 with a double, RBI and a run scored. Ward paced FAU with a 2-for-4 night with a home run and two RBIs.
Despite the loss, UCF has won six of its last nine ballgames.
On Deck
The Knights, who are currently in fourth place in the Big 12 Conference with a 15-9 league record, will continue the road trip by heading to Waco, Texas, this weekend for their final road league series of the season. UCF will face Baylor Friday to Sunday at Baylor Ballpark. First pitch for Friday’s series opener is set for 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT and will air live on ESPN+ and FM 96.9 The Game.
