WACO, Texas – The UCF offense erupted for a season-high 19 runs on a season-best 22 hits to defeat Baylor via the run-rule by a score of 19-3 on a hot Saturday afternoon at Magnolia Field at Baylor Ballpark.
Senior DeAmez Ross led the way by going a career-best 5-for-6 with four RBIs. JD Rogers also drove in four runs for the Black and Gold on the day while John Smith III, Zak Skinner and Landon Moran each tallied three hits and drove in multiple runs. The seniors Ross and Skinner also each recorded their 200th career hit in the contest. In all, 10 different Knights posted hits on the day with six different players recording multiple hits.
UCF clinched the series with the victory and improved to 29-18 overall and 17-9 in Big 12 play. The 17 conference wins mark the most for the Black and Gold since joining the Big 12 prior to the 2024 campaign. The series victory also marked UCF’s sixth in league play to tie the 2024 season for the most series wins since joining the Big 12. Baylor dropped to 25-25 overall and 11-15 in league play with the setback.
“We got on their starter early—a six-run top of the first kind of helped with that. The at-bats stayed consistent throughout the game. We took some really big swings by a number of guys in some big spots,” head UCF coach Rich Wallace said. “DeAmez has obviously had a big week for us at the top of the lineup, especially here today. That’s what we’re going to need from him going forward, as that looked like vintage DeAmez Ross.”
DeAmez plates his 4th run of the day!
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) May 9, 2026
He now has a career-high 5 hits in the game 💥 pic.twitter.com/2EY84p8pst
The Knights started right where they left off on Friday by scoring six runs on six hits in the top of the first inning to jump out to a quick 6-0 lead. Andrew Williamson connected on UCF’s third straight single to start the ballgame to drive home Ross and make it 1-0. Following a strikeout and a walk, Moran plated Smith III with an RBI single of his own and Rogers followed with a bases-clearing double off the wall in left field to extend UCF’s advantage to 5-0. With two outs and two on, the senior Ross connected with his second hit of the inning—an RBI double to left field to cap the scoring in the frame. The two-bagger marked hit number 200 for the career of Ross.
Rogers clears the bases with a 3-run double off the wall in left 👏 pic.twitter.com/6Tr2alv5C6
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) May 9, 2026
Williamson started the second inning by getting hit by a pitch and the senior catcher Skinner followed with a single into right field for his 200th career hit at the Division I level to put runners on the corners. Moran followed by driving in his second run of the game with an RBI single to right field.
The Bears then scored their first run of the series in the bottom of the second inning with a sacrifice fly from Pearson Riebock to make it a 7-1 score.
Following a scoreless third inning, UCF responded with a five-spot in the fourth inning to extend its lead to 12-1. The first run of the frame came in on a BU throwing error on a sacrifice bunt off the bat of Moran. Jordan Lodise then worked a bases loaded walk for a run and Ross followed by driving in his second and third runs of the game with a two-run single up the middle. Smith III capped the scoring in the frame with an RBI double to left field.
DeAmez drives in a pair of runs with a 2-run single!
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) May 9, 2026
He now has 3 hits and has driven in 3 runs in the game 💥 pic.twitter.com/xxOMuMkQnB
The Black and Gold then tacked on two more runs in the fifth inning to make it a 14-1 advantage. Rogers drove home his fourth run of the game with an RBI single to center field and Lodise plated a run with a sacrifice fly.
After BU picked up its second run of the day in the bottom of the fifth, UCF put the game away for good with five more runs on six hits in the top of the seventh inning. Senior Braden Calise plated his first run of the day with an RBI single for the first run of the inning and Ross followed by driving home his fourth run of the game with his career-best fifth hit via an RBI single. Calise then scored on a wild pitch, Smith III drove home another run with a sacrifice fly to deep left field, and Williamson capped the scoring by blasting out a 429-foot solo home run to deep right field. The homer marked Williamson’s 11th of the season to tie for the team lead and was a splash hit, as it landed in the Brazos River.
We have a SPLASH HIT in Waco!!!
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) May 9, 2026
Williamson rips a 429-foot 💣 to right to tie for the team-lead with his 11 HR! pic.twitter.com/THeCMxlJYq
BU got a run back in the last of the seventh and looked for more by loading the bases, but freshman right-hander Zachary Malvasio came on and escaped the jam to end the ballgame via the run rule.
Junior righty Camden Wicker earned the win on the mound for UCF after tossing 5.2 solid innings. Wicker allowed just two runs on seven hits while striking out a batter to move to 5-2 on the season. BU’s Zack Wallace was tagged with the loss to drop to 4-5 after surrendering seven runs. Black and Gold relievers Kevin Schoneboom and Malvasio combined for an inning and a third of solid relief in which they allowed just one run on two hits.
The 5-for-6 game from Ross not only marked a career-best for the senior but also just UCF’s second five-hit game of the year, as Skinner previously had a 5-hit night against TCU on March 22.
On Deck
The Knights will go for the series sweep against Baylor on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT. Following the series finale, UCF will return to John Euliano Park to close its regular season next week. The 2026 Big 12 Baseball Tournament will then be held at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona, May 19-23.