Led by D.J. Hicks three-run home run in the bottom of the fourth, the UCF Baseball team used another offensive explosion to beat Siena in game two of the Knights opening weekend series. First basemen Jonathan Griffin also tagged on a two-run double in the eighth inning en route to a 10-1 blow out victory Saturday night at Jay Bergman Field.
With an 11-1 victory in the season opener yesterday, The Knights (2-0) have already scored 21 runs on 22 hits and have outscored the Saints 21-2 so far.
Although the offense is exerting its ability, the UCF pitching has also showed great strides early on. Starting pitcher Matt Collins (1-0) gave up only one earned run in four and one-third innings, to go along with six strikeouts for his first win of the season. Johnny Sedlock closed out the game, striking out four batters in four scoreless innings of relief for the Knights.
As a whole, the UCF pitching dominated the game, walking zero batters and only allowing eight hits combined. The Knights also didn’t give up a walk in yesterday’s game
“I think from a pitching standpoint obviously any time you don’t walk anybody, you’re certainly pleased with that. I thought Matt (Collins) hung in there; I would have liked to see him finish that inning, but he did a solid job for his first time out there,” UCF coach Terry Rooney said. “I thought overall, Matt did solid. Like everybody, he’s got some areas he can continue to get better on. I thought Johnny Sedlock did an outstanding job for us.”
Despite the rout, UCF only held a slim 2-1 lead going into the bottom of the fourth, until Hicks three-run bomb helped break the game open. UCF would tack on two more runs in the fifth inning to give the Knights a 7-1 advantage.
Hicks finished the game 2-for-4 with four RBIs. In addition to his offensive performance, Hicks pitched the end of the fourth inning and didn’t allow a run.
Griffin also had two RBIs on two hits for UCF and shortstop Darnell Sweeney contributed with two RBIs.
Catcher Beau Taylor extended his hitting streak to 23 games with a single in the sixth inning. Taylor is now just three games away from tying Mike Myers UCF record 26-game hitting streak back in 2001.
Saints starting pitcher Justin Brantley was removed from the game after four innings, giving up three earned runs and five walks. He was replaced by reliever C.J. Sohl, who allowed five earned runs in four innings.
Third baseman Adam Guinn had the lone RBI for Sienna on a single in the top of the fourth inning. Center fielder Mike Fish went 2-for-4 in the game and first baseman Kevin Quaranto chipped in with two hits as well.
But, it was the Knights stellar pitching and defense that shut down Sienna and didn’t allow them to get into the game. A potent offense also helped, with UCF posting seven runs in the first five innings, which gave them a very comfortable margin to work with.
“Obviously, I’m pleased with where our pitching is,” Rooney said. “They have done their jobs. I’ve been pleased wit the way we swung the bat to. When you look at it, going into the year, we said we are a balanced offense. I think the offense going into it was the strength of our team, just because we had some many returning quality players.
“The thing I like so much about our offense is the balance. We got speed and some guys in the middle of our lineup that can drive the ball.”
The Knights now lead the all-time series with Sienna 33-3 and will look to complete the sweep tomorrow at 4 p.m. when UCF’s Ray Hanson will take on Zach Hartman in the finale of the series.
“Not a lot of teams can get sweeps, conference or not,” Hicks said. “We’re in the position to do it, so why not.”
