Series Preview: Baylor Closes Regular Season in Orlando against UCF

ORLANDO, Florida – Baylor baseball (31-20, 11-16) closes the regular season with a three-game series against UCF (28-24, 8-19) at John Euliano Park. First pitch on Thursday is scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday’s contest will also start at 5 p.m., and the series finale on Saturday is slated for 11 a.m. All three games will be streamed on ESPN+.

Baylor Bears (31-20, 11-16)

Head Coach: Mitch Thompson

Career Record: 443-220 (12th season)
Record at Baylor: 68-82 (3rd season)

Notable Opponents:

Wins: No. 23 Arizona (2), Arizona State, TCU, Kansas, Kansas State, Ohio State
Losses: No. 8 Oregon State, No. 25 Auburn, Kansas (2), Kansas State (2), Texas Tech (2), TCU (2), Arizona State (2), Oklahoma State (2)

2025 Projections:

D1Baseball: 12th in the Big 12
Coaches Poll: 13th in the Big 12

Team Stats:

Earned Run Average: 4.52 (5th in Big 12)
Batting Average: .288 (7th in Big 12)
Fielding Percentage: .969 (12th in Big 12)
Strength of Schedule: No. 86 (D1Baseball), No. 69 (Warren Nolan)
RPI: No. 75 (D1Baseball), No. 76 (Warren Nolan)

UCF Knights (28-24, 8-19)

Head Coach: Rich Wallace

Career Record: 65-45 (2nd season)
Record at UCF: 65-45 (2nd season)

Notable Opponents:

Wins: Texas Tech (2), No. 15 TCU (2), BYU (2), Miami, No. 6 Florida
Losses: Oklahoma State (3), No. 10 West Virginia (3), Kansas State (2), No. 23 Kansas (3), Cincinnati (3), Houston (2)

2025 Projections:

D1Baseball: 8th in the Big 12
Coaches Poll: 7th in the Big 12

Team Stats:

Earned Run Average: 4.30 (2nd in Big 12)
Batting Average: .314 (2nd in Big 12)
Fielding Percentage: .978 (3rd in Big 12)
Strength of Schedule: No. 32 (D1Baseball), No. 37 (Warren Nolan)
RPI: No. 61 (D1Baseball), No. 61 (Warren Nolan)

Baylor Projected Starting Lineup

RF: Enzo Apodaca (RSr.): (.303 BAVG, .402 OB%, 208 AB, 54 R, 23 XBH, 34 RBI)
2B: Travis Sanders (RSo.): (.342 BAVG, .429 OB%, 149 AB, 40 R, 15 XBH, 22 RBI)
SS: Tyriq Kemp (Sr.): (.358 BAVG, .446 OB%, 187 AB, 45 R, 20 XBH, 37 RBI)
LF: Wesley Jordan (Sr.): (.300 BAVG, .386 OB%, 180 AB, 33 R, 26 XBH, 38 RBI)
3B: Pearson Riebock (Fr.): (.311 BAVG, .417 OB%, 167 AB, 27 R, 15 XBH, 28 RBI)
DH: Hunter Simmons (RSr.): (.311 BAVG, .401 OB%, 190 AB, 28 R, 18 XBH, 36 RBI)
1B: John Youens (RFr.): (.176 BAVG, .333 OB%, 17 AB, 3 R, XBH, 3 RBI)
CF Ty Johnson (Sr.): (.253 BAVG, .395 OB%, 162 AB, 29 R, 9 XBH, 31 RBI)
C: Cortlan Castle (Sr.): (.274 BAVG, .381 OB%, 95 AB, 12 R, 7 XBH, 16 RBI)

Baylor Projected Bench

C: JJ Kennett (So.): (.236 BAVG, .371 OB%, 72 AB, 13 R, 3 XBH, 20 RBI)
OF: Gavin Brzozowski (RSo.): (.258 BAVG, .382 OB%, 62 AB, 16 R, 4 XBH, 12 RBI)
1B: Jack Little (RSo.): (.224 BAVG, .335 OB%, 152 AB, 34 R, 14 XBH, 29 RBI)
1B: Will Pendergrass (RSr.): (.159 BAVG, .208 OB%, 44 AB, 8 R, 2 XBH, 7 RBI)

*2025 Stats: (BAVG = Batting Average, OB% = On-Base Percentage, AB = At-Bats, R = Runs, XBH = Extra Base Hits, RBI = Runs Batted In)*

Probable Starting Pitchers

BU SP 1 – LHP: Mason Green (So.); (0-2, 6.08 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 13.1 IP, 6 GS)
UCF SP 1 – RHP: Camden Wicker (So.); (0-2, 4.75 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 30.1 IP, 6 GS)
BU SP 2 – LHP: Ethan Calder (Jr.); (3-6, 5.46 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 64.1 IP, 13 GS)
UCF SP 2 – RHP: Russell Sandefer (So.); (2-3, 3.15 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 45.2 IP, 5 GS)
BU SP 3 – TBD
UCF SP 3 – TBD

*2025 Stats: (ERA = Earned Run Average, WHIP = Walks + Hits per Inning Pitched, GS = Games Started)*

UCF Projected Starting Lineup

CF: DeAmez Ross (Jr.): (.357 BAVG, .431 OB%, 221 AB, 51 R, 17 XBH, 32 RBI)
2B: Edian Espinal (Jr.): (.345 BAVG, .440 OB%, 177 AB, 40 R, 17 XBH, 36 RBI)
RF: Andrew Williamson (So.): (.345 BAVG, .447 OB%, 200 AB, 54 R, 36 XBH, 50 RBI)
DH: Andrew Sundean (Sr.): (.336 BAVG, .424 OB%, 131 AB, 21 R, 17 XBH, 40 RBI)
SS: Antonio Jimenez (So.): (.321 BAVG, .399 OB%, 196 AB, 51 R, 25 XBH, 48 RBI)
1B: Lex Boedicker (Sr.): (.315 BAVG, .415 OB%, 168 AB, 32 R, 18 XBH, 39 RBI)
LF: Chase Krewson (So.): (.283 BAVG, .400 OB%, 138 AB, 27 R, 5 XBH, 14 RBI)
3B: Braden Calise (RJr.): (.298 BAVG, .410 OB%, 171 AB, 33 R, 6 XBH, 28 RBI)
C: Dylan King (RJr.): (.325 BAVG, .447 OB%, 123 AB, 31 R, 22 XBH, 32 RBI)

Top Quotes

Head coach Mitch Thompson on the last series of the regular season:

“Let’s go win a series. Let’s go win three games. We’re going to play three games, let’s try to win three. Keep moving forward and hopefully, we can create some momentum going into the [Big 12] Tournament.”

Big 12 Tournament Notes

The “magic number” for the Bears to clinch a conference tournament berth for the first time since 2022 is one. Baylor (31-20, 11-16) needs to win one game against UCF (28-24, 8-19) this weekend or hope BYU (25-25, 8-19) loses a game to Texas Tech.