Andrew Williamson hit three home runs and the University of Central Florida scored nine unanswered runs to defeat North Carolina State 9-3 in their opening game of the NCAA Auburn Regional, according to a May 30 report. The game began Friday night and was completed Saturday morning at Plainsman Park in Auburn, Alabama.
Williamson’s performance marked his first career three-homer game and was the first for UCF since May 21, 2024. With this victory, the second-seeded Knights improved to a 32-21 record and advanced to face fourth-seeded Milwaukee Panthers in the winner’s bracket on Saturday evening. NC State dropped to an elimination game against top-seed Auburn Tigers.
Head coach Rich Wallace said, “Obviously, proud of the guy’s effort with all of the outside stuff that happened with the weather, with the starting and stopping. To compete against a team that’s as talented and well-coached as a team as you’re going to face in NC State, to come out in the end, I couldn’t be more proud of our guys.”
NC State took an early lead by scoring three runs in the top of the first inning before Williamson responded with a two-run homer for UCF. Freshman Jordan Lodise tied it up with a solo home run in his first regional at-bat. The Knights continued their offensive surge through subsequent innings while pitchers Kaniel Rosado, Max Murray, and Anthony Lariz combined for over five scoreless innings out of relief.
The contest experienced multiple weather delays totaling three hours before completion on Saturday morning. Williamson led offensively by going 3-for-4 with six RBIs while also becoming UCF’s first player to hit three home runs during NCAA Regional play.
Reflecting on his performance, Williamson said, “We had a great approach to start off the game, and after that, just trying to adjust with what they were going to throw after the first at-bat. I was just trying to stay true to my approach and be able to do a job whenever there were guys on base… Thankful that I was able to scratch across some runs for our team.”
UCF will next play Milwaukee on Saturday night; winners advance directly into Sunday’s regional final.
