UCF blasts Arizona 11-6, stays atop Big 12 standings
UCF kept answering Friday night.
After Arizona jumped out in front in the first inning, the Knights responded with four home runs, a quality start from Braden Smith and just enough shutdown work from the bullpen to claim an 11-6 victory in the series opener at John Euliano Park. The win pushed UCF to 16-8 overall and 6-1 in Big 12 play, keeping the Knights in first place, while Arizona dropped to 9-16 and 2-5 in league action in the first-ever baseball meeting between the two programs.
Rich Wallace said the biggest thing he liked was the way UCF kept responding every time Arizona made a push.
“I think it starts with Braden Smith on the mound, giving us the little hiccup in the first, but he gives us a quality start,” Wallace said. “What I was impressed with, every time that they kind of scored, we answered offensively as a group, and we did it a couple different ways. It just makes it a lot easier when you’re hitting the ball out of the ballpark.”
Knights answer every Arizona rally
Arizona landed the first blow when Nate Novitske followed a Tony Lira single with a two-run homer in the top of the first. UCF answered in the second when Javier Crespo tied the game with a two-run shot to left after a Zak Skinner single. An inning later, Cayden Gaskin singled, Andrew Williamson doubled him home and John Smith III blasted a two-run homer to deep left to put the Knights in front 5-2.
The Wildcats never fully went away. Carson McEntire hit a solo homer in the fifth to trim the lead to 5-3, but UCF got that run back in the bottom half when Smith walked and later scored on Skinner’s single to center, with an Arizona error helping the play along. Arizona added another run in the seventh on Caleb Danzeisen’s RBI single, only for Williamson to answer immediately with a solo homer in the bottom of the inning. Moran then added an RBI single later in the frame to stretch the lead to 8-4.
Arizona again made it interesting in the eighth when Jackson Forbes hit a two-run homer to right-center, cutting the deficit to 8-6. But UCF delivered the knockout punch in the bottom of the inning. Jordan Lodise walked, stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. After Arizona intentionally walked Williamson, Smith made them pay, hammering a three-run homer to deep left for his second long ball of the night and a five-RBI evening.
Smith finished 2-for-4 with two home runs, three runs scored and five RBIs. Williamson went 2-for-4 with a double, homer, three runs and two RBIs, while Skinner had three hits and scored twice. Crespo also homered and Moran added two hits and an RBI as UCF totaled 12 hits. The Knights scored 10 of their 11 runs via RBI, with the other coming home on Arizona’s lone error.
After the game, Smith said his approach never changed, even in the biggest moment.
“Really just staying in my approach,” he said. “I do the same approach every day, and I don’t change it at all. I just stick to the same plan every day.”
Smith added that UCF’s hitters have fed off one another.
“We preach being a team in the dugout,” he said. “All the hitters are on one side of the dugout, even if you’re in the game or not in the game. We relay different things that we see on the field that we can change and help. … We call it a village. We’re all a village.”
Braden Smith settles in, bullpen finishes it
Wallace credited Friday starter Braden Smith for settling the game down after the rocky first inning. Arizona came in with one of the league’s more dangerous lineups of late, and Friday starter Owen Kramkowski had already piled up 35 strikeouts entering the weekend. But UCF got to him for eight hits and six runs, five earned, over six innings.
Braden Smith went five innings to earn the win, allowing three runs on four hits while walking three and striking out two. Wallace said the adjustment period is real for a Friday-night starter facing a lineup for the first time, but liked how Smith changed speeds and leaned more on his cutter, changeup and slider after the early damage.
“Everybody’s got a plan until you get punched in the mouth,” Wallace said. “I think Braden did that, going to the cutter a little bit more, the changeup and the slider at times.”
Smith said the formula on his end was simple.
“It’s just attacking early,” he said. “We knew what we had to do. We were making plays out there behind me, so it’s really easy to go out there and throw, and then obviously when we score some runs early, it’s really easy.”
The bullpen helped preserve the lead from there. Kris Sosnowski gave UCF 1.2 innings and Wallace pointed to his escape work in the middle innings as one of the more important moments in the game. Evan Jones then recorded the final seven outs for his second save, even after Arizona’s eighth-inning homer briefly tightened things up. Wallace also highlighted a tough double-play turn started by freshman shortstop Jordan Lodise in a key spot.
UCF keeps rolling, Jacobs returns
The win was another sign of how much UCF has rounded into form since its uneven 4-5 start. The Knights entered the weekend tied for first in the Big 12 after sweeping Oklahoma State and taking two of three at preseason favorite TCU, and they now have another chance to clinch a series Saturday at home against an Arizona team that reached the College World Series last season and was picked second in the conference preseason poll.
Wallace said one of the keys has been the way UCF’s lineup has become more connected from top to bottom.
“It’s probably simple, but it’s not that easy, and it’s got to work together and it’s got to work as a cohesive unit,” Wallace said. “That’s what I’ve seen happen offensively, and the at-bats up and down the lineup have been tough.”
UCF also got Austin Jacobs back in the lineup Friday after he broke a finger two weeks ago in the Oklahoma State series. Jacobs went hitless in four at-bats, but Wallace said his return still gave the club a jolt.
“He provides a spark,” Wallace said. “He has a really good feel about how to play the game, and I think he pushes that out to his teammates. … Our people coming in here watching that kid from right across the street play his tail off in our uniform, it’s special stuff.”
Saturday gives UCF a chance to win another Big 12 series, with Matt Sauser set to take the mound. Wallace said the priority for Sauser is getting the life and command back on his fastball, because everything else works off that pitch.
Knights in the Big Leagues
Former UCF players Alex Freeland (Dodgers) and Dylan Moore (Phillies) made Opening Day rosters.
Freeland played shortstop for the Knights from 2021-22 and made his MLB debut last season. Shortly after the conclusion of UCF’s game with Arizona, Freeland hit a home run in his first MLB at-bat of the season.
Moore, a utility player, played on UCF’s 2014 and 2015 teams. He made his MLB debut in 2019 with the Seattle Mariners and after a short stint with the Texas Rangers in 2025, he’s now on roster with the Philadelphia Phillies.
“Dylan was here a couple of our practices in the spring,” Wallace said. “He lives in Windermere now, and he was fighting through all that stuff, like who he’s going to play for. And today, I’m just glad to see him get a chance, and Freeland, we’re pulling for him.”
Wallace also revealed his favorite team growing up.
“I’m a Cardinal fan. Born in St. Louis, you don’t have a choice.”
Was he a big Ozzie Smith fan back in the day?
“Of course,” Wallace said. “The backflips on opening day, that whole team of Ozzie Smith, Tommy Herr, Jack Clark, I’m in on that stuff.”
