UCF baseball started off the American Championship on a high note, handling the UCONN Huskies 7-1 on the first day of play.
The Knights relied on the pitching of Zach Rodgers, who pitched a complete game and only allowed five hits over a nine inning stretch. Rodgers (7-1) does not normally start on the first day of a series, but Head Coach Terry Rooney wanted to give ACC Pitcher of the Year Eric Skoglund an extra day of rest.
“First of all it was a good win today,” Head Coach Terry Rooney said after the game. “I’m very excited about the way the guys played and to start off the tournament 1-0, but certainly one of the big stories of the game was Zach Rodgers.”
Rodgers has been a jack-of-all-trades for the Knights this season, as a closer, relief pitcher and starter.
“I want to give my best for this team. It was a good way to get the week started, coming out and swinging the bats really well. It makes my job a lot easier to go out and pound the zone,” Rodgers said.
Offensively, the Knights had a huge six-run second inning to give them a big enough cushion to prevent UCONN from coming back.
A pair of singles by Matt Diorio and Tommy Williams followed by a walk of JoMarcos Woods loaded the bases for Knights before Dylan Moore getting hit by a pitch drove in the first run. After that, the Knights exploded with Derrick Salberg driving in two runs.
The second-seeded Knights will continue pool play on Thursday, taking on Temple at 7 p.m. They need two more wins in order to clinch a spot in Sunday’s American Athletic Conference championship.
