ORLANDO, Fla. – Cre Finfrock held fast over six full innings Saturday while delivering UCF to their thirteenth win of the season, a 5-1 bout against Columbia. The freshman collected four strikeouts, walked two and allowed one earned run to polish his undefeated record to 4-0.
“I thought Cre Finfrock really battled, he’s done a nice job in our rotation all year,” said Coach Rooney.
Even as a freshman, Finfrock is establishing himself as the most stable pillar in the rotation. Through four starts he leads the team in innings pitched with 22, and has been consistent enough to earn himself the win in each appearance.
He is by no means a strikeout pitcher – Saturday’s four only give him 14 on the season, the fewest of any starter on the staff – instead choosing to rely on weak contact and the eight guys behind him. The approach has kept his pitch count relatively low, allowing Coach Rooney to comfortably keep his workhorse on the bump into the second half of each game he pitches.
It has been a quick recovery from their quietest outing of the year and the Knights’ bats have come back to life with a vengeance in the past two games, totaling 14 runs and 22 hits.
Rooney credited his coaching staff and the work put in during practice when asked about the resurgence.
“Offensively we did a good job early, we need to continue throughout the course of the game, which is what we’ve done, but our hitters are doing a great job,” he said. “Listen, Coach Schnall – our hitting coach – deserves so much credit, he has done an unbelievably terrific job with out offense.”
The fire was lit Saturday with a four-run first inning in which the Knights hit around and forced Columbia starting pitcher Kevin Roy to throw 30 pitches. A double smashed by Dylan Moore, a walk and a hit batter would load the bases for Tommy Williams.
Williams began a string of small ball scoring with a single that drove in the first run, followed in suit by RBI singles from James Vasquez and Kyle Marsh. Jordan Savinon actually drew a bases loaded walk on four straight pitches to earn himself an RBI without ever taking the bat off his shoulders.
UCF added another run in the fourth inning from the bat of Matt Diorio to total five runs, but would remain silent for the remainder of the game.
Trent Thompson and Harrison Hukari worked the last three innings without incident, though Hukari did successfully work out of the bases-loaded jam he inherited when he took the bump. Hukari did the bulk of the legwork, pitching 2.1 innings and racking up his second save.
The win gives the Knights their third series win of the season with a trip to Florida State looming in the distance after Sunday’s series finale. Robby Howell will get the nod on Sunday afternoon, looking to improve on a 2-0 record.
