Kyle Kramer began his college career at Rollins and after three years made the decision to head across town to transfer to UCF.
The St. Petersburg native immediately became one of UCF's clutch relievers, leading the team in saves in both 2022 and 2023. He continued his role as one of the team's most reliable bullpen arms, delivering one of his best performances in last week's Big 12 tournament against Cincinnati.
After UCF took a 6-5 lead in the 11th inning thanks to Danny Neri's solo home run, Kramer was tasked with getting the final three outs. After giving up a leadoff single, Kramer quickly retired the next three batters to close out the win.
"I just really wanted to get the team the win," Kramer said this week. "That was my mindset. What do I have to do right here to get the win... It was a relief of emotions. After they tied it up in the bottom of the ninth, it was like oof. We've got to win this. When we did, it was let's go."
Then two days later in the win against Oklahoma State, Kramer was asked to get UCF out of a jam. With a man on second and just one out, Kramer struck out his first batter faced and then forced a fly out to end the inning.
The win against Cincinnati and subsequent triumph over the Cowboys likely was the clincher to secure an at-large bid to the NCAA Regionals.
For Kramer, it will be his first NCAA postseason at any level.
"It's super awesome, especially being the last year," Kramer said. "This is the last ride. I get to go out there and play more baseball with my friends. Let's see how long we can do it. It's exciting."
Kramer admitted he wasn't immediately sure about his future after last year's coaching change that brought Rich Wallace to Orlando.
"(Wallace) played for UCF so he knows how important it is for us," Kramer said. "He has this passion and history of being here. He just wants to win. Danny (Neri) said that he's a winner. It's true because our first meeting here I was hesitant on coming back in the summer. He was like, 'I've been to Omaha. I've been to regionals and Super Regionals. It's an awesome feeling to get there.' Once he said that, that kind of gave me a future of what he wanted to do. I was like alright, we're gonna win here. He wants to win."
At the conclusion of his college career, Kramer wants to see how far they can take it. Being a UCF Knight has meant the world to him.
"I talk about this with my dad all the time," Kramer said. "What would have happened if we hadn't made that move? I'm very happy to be here. It's been a pleasure to be here the last three years and get to know everybody. Just the whole family of UCF. A tight-knit community. You've got a huge alumni base. It's crazy because we were in Arlington and you have people you've never seen before coming to the games and rooting on the Knights. That's pretty cool stuff."
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