In game one, the Knights and Thundering Herd set the bar extremely high for what could have been and did end up being an extremely exciting series. Marshall led UCF the entire game until the bottom of the seventh when UCF rallied for four runs to tie it.
This rally occurred with two outs and was in large part due to a couple of mental errors by Marshall and the consistent hit machine, Chris Taladay. Taladay saw his hit streak extend to 17 games (2-3 2 RBI) and achieved another milestone by becoming seventh all time on the UCF hit list with 251 career hits.
Taladay’s performance, along with a gutsy showing by starting pitcher, Chris Matulis (4-2), was not enough as the Knights fell apart in the 10th inning with two errors including a wild pitch by freshman, Zac Favre.
This 5-4 loss was disappointing for the Knights (20-19, 6-7) but did not keep them from bouncing back on Saturday.
In a day where the UCF Knights honored our troops in wearing camouflage jerseys, they also looked to even the series against a Conference USA foe in Marshall.
Pegged by UCF manager, Terry Rooney, as “the best pitching matchup in all of college baseball today,” UCF sent their ace, Ben Lively (6-3), to the mound to take on Marshall’s Aaron Blair (5-3).
MLB scouts and experts believe Blair is a top-50 prospect and potentially first round pick in this years upcoming draft. With a large amount of professional scouts in attendance, Lively out-dueled Blair in an old school pitching showdown.
In a 3-1 victory, Rooney called upon his team to “rise up and do something great,” and today starter Ben Lively along with a go ahead 2 run homer over the left field fence in the 5th inning from Erik Hempe (2-3 2 RBI) did exactly that. The Knights looked to take the rubber match on what they called “Championship Sunday” and they so in an offensive fashion.
Side note: Chris Taladay extended his hitting streak to 18 games.
In the third and deciding game of the series, Brian Adkins stepped up when the Knights “needed it most” according to Terry Rooney. He stayed strong behind an offensive output that left the Knights with an 11-0 victory.
UCF had planned on starting Dan Davis, but when he became ill with the flu, Rooney gave the ball to senior Brian Adkins and the lefty dominated from start to finish. In a complete game shutout, Adkins went 7 innings in the run-ruled victory, only allowing three hits once the 5th inning began.
The other story for UCF in this game was its offensive explosion. First baseman, James Vasquez led the way for the Knights with 3 more RBI’s to make his total 25 on the season. In addition to Vasquez’s offensive display, Bret Gordon (2) and Parker Webster (3) had multiple runs batted in. Also, Chris Taladay notched his 254th career hit, extending his streak to 19 games.
For a team that has lost numerous close games this season and has been offensively starved for many of those games, it was an impressive showing for the UCF Knights (22-19, 8-7). Taking this series from the Thundering Herd was a big statement for the Knights as they attempt to climb the Conference USA standings.
They are currently fifth in the conference standings and will have some time off before taking on the University of Houston in Orlando next week. This series with Houston will be vitally important as the Knights look to continue to make a late season push to take the conference lead.
