ORLANDO, Fla. – The Knights found their rhythm on Saturday night after dropping their last two games, taking a 4-1 victory from the highly touted No. 29 Oklahoma Sooners.
UCF cruised after a big fourth inning in which patience at the plate led to three hit batsmen, one walk and three runs off wild pitches. Neither team crossed the plate after the decisive early inning, in part because of a strong performance from the Knights defenders and their pitchers.
“The guys did a really nice job in so many different ways, it was a collective team effort tonight,” said Coach Rooney.
The defense settled down in the later innings of the game, a major adjustment that could have changed the game as UCF struggled with 3 early inning errors.
Starting Pitcher Spencer Davis continued to show he belongs in the rotation with his second strong outing, going deep into the seventh inning while striking out four and yielding no earned runs. Davis is making the transition after pitching from the ‘pen almost exclusively.
The newly christened starter didn’t seem to have much issue with the increased workload until the seventh, when he struggled to get out of the inning after allowing multiple baserunners.
“Going into the seventh I felt pretty good, but obviously at the end I got a little fatigued there,” said Davis after the game.
Luckily Vinnie Rosace was able to come in and shut it down for the last out of the inning. Even so, expect Davis to continue his longevity on the bump.
“You always want to go as deep as you can,” he said.
Kam Gellinger had a rough night at the plate, striking out 3 times and going hitless. He had been leading the Knights in batting average going into the game, and still retains the full confidence of Coach Rooney.
“Kam Gellinger is going to be a great player. He’s done a great job for us,” he said. “He’s got all of the tools that we talk about as a player, he’s got all of them, and just needs to keep getting out there and getting experience.”
Derrick Salberg was the hero tonight, driving in two runs – one with two outs to tie the game early on. He later drove in a run during the go-ahead 4th inning. The center fielder was hit by a pitch, had two hits and two RBIs.
UCF will finish the tournament tomorrow against The Citadel, who has gone winless so far this weekend. If Ohio State loses and the Knights win, we will have a three way tie at the top of this tourney. First pitch is scheduled for 2 pm.
