ORLANDO, Fla. – A seven run first inning and multiple RBIs from seven players fueled UCF (20-5) to a series deciding 18-4 victory over Presbyterian College (15-9) Sunday afternoon.
The first inning assumed the identity of a productive inning of small ball before exploding into a game-changing frame. Tommy Williams, who entered the game hitting over .400, laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move runners to second and third after back to back lead off walks.
James Vasquez brought them home with a loud double to the fence and began a streak of six consecutive base runners to reach safely. When the smoke cleared only one runner was left on base and seven were knocked in on five hits.
Opportunism at its finest.
“I think what’s sustainable,” Rooney said, “is that we’ve had a very good offense.”
Two more runs were added on in the second inning when Matt Diorio crushed a long ball over the right field fence, scoring Vasquez.
They scored two in the second, one in the fourth, one in the fifth, four in the sixth and three in the eighth. Scoring was not an issue by any means and was eased in a big way by the effective approach UCF had with runners on base; only eight of the 25 runners that reached were left on.
James Vasquez, Eric Barber, Matt Diorio, Dylan Moore, Brooks Morgan and Eugene Vasquez all had two RBIs on the day while Kyle Marsh led the charge with three of his own.
It was the offense that provided the fireworks Sunday, but the UCF pitching staff had a rock-solid outing as well. As a staff they held Presbyterian to five hits, surrendered three earned runs, struck out four and walked five.
Eric Hepple was reliable through 5.2 innings of work to earn his third win of the season on only two starts. The last was a tough welcoming to the world of college baseball in Gainesville, getting knocked around in a big way against the Gators.
“Hep did a great job. We needed it, we needed somebody to rise up and he did, what a terrific job he did,” said Coach Rooney.
Rooney had only let him know that morning that he would be getting the start, giving the freshman almost no time to reflect. Not that he needed to.
He was a completely different starter on Sunday through the first five innings, maintaining a no-hit bid through the fifth inning. The sixth gave him some trouble, and forced him from the game with two outs and the bases loaded. Spencer Davis pitched out of the jam, so only two runs would be counted against Hepple.
Coach Rooney was able to play some of the younger players in the late innings, getting Kam Gellinger, Dalton Duty, Eugene Vasquez and Kyle Perkins some action. Vasquez homered in the eighth to bring in the 16th and 17th runs.
The series win is the fifth of the season for the No. 7 Knights, having split one with UF and dropping both games to FSU. Conference play will be here for their next series, a three game home-stand against Houston.
It will be the real start to the season and everyone has been reminded by Coach Rooney that this is what count the most.
“From my end, from a team standpoint, I want these guys to understand where I want them to celebrate their success, I also want them to understand we haven’t done anything yet,” he said.
