A midweek matchup denied the Knights’ redemption

Photo Courtesy of Aryah Britt

A shoulder-to-shoulder audience of more than 3,000 watched UCF suffer a 9-5 rematch loss against the Miami Hurricanes on Wednesday night at John Euliano Park.

UCF (9-6, 0-0 Big 12) last played Miami (13-4, 1-2 ACC) on Feb. 17 during the 2026 season, where the Hurricanes won in extra innings after a comeback at the top of the ninth inning.

About a month later, the Knights could not rally offensively against the Hurricanes, falling behind in overall hitting at .333 to Miami’s .359.

UCF baseball head coach Rich Wallace said that although UCF had some successful at-bats and solid defense, the Knights’ lapses held them back from victory.

“You can’t beat a team like that when you make mental mistakes out there—taking away runs that we should have scored and then giving them runs that they should not have,” Wallace said in the postgame conference.

Miami started the scoring straight away after Miami senior infielder Jake Ogden launched a home run 414 feet within the first minutes off of junior pitcher Camden Wicker. Junior outfielder Andrew Willamison fired back with a home run of his own to right field at the bottom of the first.

Senior catcher Zak Skinner put UCF ahead with an RBI single grounded out to second base, allowing Andrew Williamson to score.

Freshman pitcher Max Murray took over for Wicker to start the fourth inning and tossed three strikeouts while surrendering two hits and one run.

Though the young 6-foot-2 pitcher was replaced immediately after a one-RBI from Miami graduate student infielder Brylan West allowed Miami junior infielder Daniel Cuvet to score from second base.

Miami’s offensive prowess continued the cycle of pitching changes as UCF saw a combined 10 pitchers by the end of the matchup.

Redshirt freshman infielder Austin Jacobs provided UCF hope with a home run to left field, resulting in a triple RBI and brought the matchup to a close 6-5. Though the Hurricanes retaliated with three runs at the top of the seventh to keep the lead within their grasp.

Senior pitcher Kevin Schoneboom simmered down Miami’s scoring run, securing the mound with three strikeouts while allowing one hit after tossing 1.2 innings.

Any hope for a UCF resurgence was snuffed out by Miami senior pitcher Ryan Bilka as he struck out redshirt senior infielder Javier Crespo to close the matchup in a Hurricanes’ victory, 9-5.

The Black and Gold will remain at home to begin conference play in a weekend series against the Oklahoma State Cowboys (12-4, 0-0 Big 12) with the first game at 6 p.m. on Friday at John Euliano Park.