Baseball’s Auburn Regional Run Comes to a Close with Sunday Setback to No. 4 AuburnBaseball’s Auburn Regional Run Comes to a Close with Sunday Setback to No. 4 Auburn

Baseball’s Auburn Regional Run Comes to a Close with Sunday Setback to No. 4 Auburn

by James Warnick
Box Score

AUBURN, Ala. – Despite a number of weather delays on the day, UCF baseball jumped out early but No. 4 Auburn responded with six home runs en route to recording a 9-3 victory in an elimination game of the NCAA Auburn Regional on Sunday evening at Plainsman Park.

The second-seeded Knights (32-23) had their NCAA Auburn Regional run come to a close one-win shy of reaching the regional final with the setback, while the top-seeded Tigers (40-20) advanced to the final to face the No. 4 seed Milwaukee on late Sunday night with the victory.

“Congratulations to Auburn, they played a heck of a game. Our kids competed. They competed for the last two months as hard as any team I’ve ever coached and couldn’t be more proud of these guys,” head UCF coach Rich Wallace said. “I’m really going to miss (DeAmez Ross) and (Zak Skinner), sitting here next to me as well as the rest of the departing seniors.”

After sitting through a three-hour weather delay before the first pitch was thrown, UCF didn’t waste any time getting things going as senior outfielder DeAmez Ross led off the game by ripping out a solo home run to right field. The homer marked his fourth of the season and was clocked at 106 mph off the bat. With Andrew Williamson aboard following a one-out walk, the Knights looked for more in the top of the first as Javier Crespo drove a ball to deep right-center, but Auburn’s Cade Belyeu got back and made a nice catch up against the wall to end the frame.

After a 22-minute lightning delay with one out in the bottom of the first inning, UCF starter Roman Kimball returned to the mound and made quick work of the Tigers with a lineout and strikeout to send it to the second inning.

The momentum stayed with the Knights as they loaded the bases with one away in the top of the second inning. Ross then drove in his second run of the game by plating Landon Moran with an RBI single to the right side of the infield to extend UCF’s early lead to 2-0. With the bases still loaded and the Black and Gold looking for more, Auburn starter Alex Petrovic managed to induce a double play to limit the damage.

Following another 28-minute lightning delay in the bottom of the second, Kimball returned to the mound and quickly struck out the first man he faced for the second out. He then drew a fielder’s choice two batters later to send it to the third.

Mason McCraine got the Tigers on the board in the top of the third with a solo home run to right field and his teammate and 2025 Freshman All-American Chase Fralick followed later in the inning with a solo home run of his own to deadlock the score at 2-2.

Second Team All-SEC performer Ethin Bingaman added another solo homer for Auburn in the bottom of the fourth to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead. UCF starter Kimball responded with an inning-ending strikeout for his career-best sixth punchout of the contest.

The Tigers loaded the bases in the fifth and First Team All-SEC honoree Chris Rembert drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to deep right field to make it 4-2, but Black and Gold reliever Anthony Lariz responded with a big inning-ending strikeout to strand a pair of runners.

The Knights immediately struck back in the top of the sixth as senior catcher Zak Skinner belted out a solo home run off the top of the scoreboard in left-center to make it a 4-3 score. Skinner’s big fly traveled 430 feet and marked his sixth of the season. Auburn countered back, however, with a pair of deep solo home runs of its own from Belyeu and Taylor Belza in the bottom of the frame to extend its lead to 6-3.

The Tigers added another solo shot in the seventh, as Fralick hit out his second home run of the night to right field to make it 7-3. With Matt Sauser on in his first relief appearance of the season, the right-hander responded by silencing the crowd with an inning-strikeout to send it to the eighth.

Auburn then tacked on two more runs in the last of the eighth, but senior Braden Calise entered the game on the mound and managed to end the rally with a fly out.

The Knights got a one-out single from the senior Moran in the ninth, but he was stranded on the base paths as Auburn closer Ryan Hetzler pitched out of it to end the ballgame.

The senior Kimball gave UCF everything he had by battling through 4.1 innings and striking out a career-high seven batters, but he was tagged with the loss to drop to 1-2 on the season. Auburn’s Petrovic earned the win after allowing just two earned runs (three total) in 6.0 innings of work to move to 10-2, while Hetzler was credited with a three-inning save for his third of the season.

The senior captain Ross paced the Black and Gold offensively in his final collegiate game by going 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs, while fellow senior Skinner went 1-for-3 with a homer, a walk, and an RBI. Fellow senior Moran also finished 1-for-4 with a run scored. Fralick led the Tigers by going 2-for-3 with two home runs and a game-high three runs batted in.

The Knights finished the Auburn Regional with a 1-2 record. UCF opened play on the weekend with a 9-3 victory over the No. 3 seed NC State in their 2026 regional opener before falling to the No. 4 seed Milwaukee on Saturday night by a score of 13-6.

The appearance in the NCAA Auburn Regional marked UCF’s 14th regional appearance and the second in the last three years under Wallace. It also marked just the program’s second outside the state of Florida in program history.

The 2026 campaign marked a successful one for the Knights. UCF posted its highest finish in the Big 12 Conference era by tying for third place with a 19-11 league record. The 19 conference wins marked the most for the Black and Gold since the 2005 season when the team was a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference. UCF also won a Big 12-era best seven league series on the season en route to earning an at-large bid and a No. 2 seed to the Auburn Regional.