ORLANDO, Fla. – In their return home from a humbling loss at UF on Tuesday, the Knights lost their second consecutive game to a big-name program with a 9-3 defeat at the hands of Ohio State.
It was not a game decided easily, fought tooth and nail into the 13th inning until the Buckeyes exploded for 6 runs in the top half of the frame. Pitcher Parker Thomas was credited with the loss and three earned runs, though Jarrod Petree did him no favors in relief, giving up the other three runs in the 13th.
Ohio State had scored 2 runs in the top of the 9th to force extra innings after UCF had led for most of the game. The outsiders had no answer for Knights’ ace Eric Skoglund all night, striking out 5 times and only scoring a single run until the 9th inning. He went eight innings deep to bring his total to 14 for the season – while only allowing three earned runs in that span.
The immense effort from Skoglund will go wasted after the late-inning debacle, as he did not get the decision and the ballclub couldn’t close out a landmark win early in the season.
Tommy Williams continued to improve his stock at shortstop with a solo blast to lead off the 6th, but couldn’t get on base after or before that.
Kam Gellinger, Derrick Salsberg and Dylan Moore all managed to collect two hits each tonight, but only scored one run between the six hits.
Tonight was the headline game of the UCF tourney, and though the Knights lost, it was a hell of a way to begin the three day contest. Hard-fought for 13 innings, UCF has looked competitive in almost every instance so far this springs – boding well for a team still coming together.
Oklahoma beat the Citadel 9-7 in a rain-delayed game earlier in the day. UCF will play Oklahoma tomorrow at 6 pm.
