TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – For the second time this season UCF started a freshman pitcher on the road against a ranked opponent and was left with a major mess to clean up from the onset, failing to ever lead as the No. 11 Seminoles exploded offensively to beat them 11-8.
The strategy helped sink the Knights early against No. 2 Florida in Gainesville as well.
“I think what you take from it is that we need to get better,” Head Coach Rooney said after the game. “It’s not about the competitiveness, it’s not about any of that, I love these guys and I love this group. Its baseball and it’s going to happen, but I’m not going to chalk it up just to that. I mean we need to get better.”
Kyle Marsh had a rough beginning to his second career start on Tuesday, struggling mightily with location in the first inning and paying dearly for it by giving up three runs in the game’s first frame.
The initial damage began when Marsh started the game off with a leadoff combination straight out of a nightmare – walk, hit batter, walk. Florida State jumped at the chance to knock around the freshman, and took aggressive swings to drive in all three of those runners.
He never quite found a rhythm, and saw two more cross the plate in the second inning before being replaced by Parker Thomas. Three of the five runs given up were earned and Marsh was forced to labor through 54 pitches in only 2.0 innings on the mound, exiting the game with a 5-0 deficit.
It did not help that FSU starter Alec Byrd has been deadly all season, entering the game with a 0.61 ERA. When UCF was able to bring home their first runner in the top of the third inning, it was the first run Byrd had relinquished in over 13 full innings.
Kam Gellinger scored the run after botching a potential double play in the frame before that allowed for a run to score with the bases loaded. His redemption came in the form of a leadoff double, the first extra-base hit for the Knights. The second baseman scored again in the fifth inning when Derrick Salberg beat out a high-chopper over the middle of the infield.
JoMarcos Woods launched a moon shot over the right field fence in the sixth inning, driving in two runs for UCF and bringing the game within six runs at 5-11. Derrick Salberg had a productive day at the plate as well, driving in three runs and knocking two hits.
Florida State was relentless at the plate, scoring in each of the first five innings. They raked for 13 hits all game, three for extra bases; including a solo home run from John Sansone.
Neither the defensive nor offensive woes that plagued the Knights in their last gut check – a 10-2 loss in Gainesville – were the deciding factor in a game where the Seminoles were seeing beach balls at the plate. No pitcher on the staff had an answer to Florida State’s bats; evidenced by runs being scored in each of the first five innings.
“Collectively, as a pitching staff, we don’t throw enough strikes. I’m the pitching coach, it’s my responsibility, so we need to change some things,” Rooney said. “That’s the one thing, if you look at our team just overall, that’s what we need to do.”
Spencer Davis saw the most success, leaving the game with 4.2 innings in relief with three earned runs and six strikeouts under his belt.
“Spencer did a great job. He gave up a couple of runs early but after that he was fantastic and gave us a chance to win. That’s why I brought him in,” Rooney said of the performance.
“Spence can do a lot of things for us, he’s kind of been that middle reliever, setup guy, close guy, starter, so we’ll see how it goes but he did a nice job of giving us a chance to win.”
The Knights actually ended the game with more hits than Florida State – 15 to 13 – but couldn’t drive in runners when it counted. They left nine runners on base, but can trace the three run differential back to the rocky start in the first inning.
It was a battle to make this game as close as it was after the initial hole, but UCF outscored the ‘Noles 5-0 in the last four innings of the game. The ninth inning was not devoid of drama as a two out rally brought the tying run to the plate, but it was not to be as Woods struck out to end the game.
“I’m so proud of how they have continued to fight and come back, and it’s a quality and a characteristic they’ve shown all year. It’s not surprising. They continue to battle and we’ve got a tremendous offense,” said Rooney.
Momentum totally shifted direction by the end of the game, leaving the surging Knights still hopeful that Wednesday’s game won’t begin anywhere close to the same fashion.
“We just need to come out with a lot of energy. We need to score in the first couple innings and not let them get all the momentum,” Salberg said, continuing “It was just our confidence. We knew we were better than them and we showed it in the last half of the game.”
UCF will have to evaluate how to shut down the scorching Seminoles fast, with the first pitch of Game Two scheduled for 4:00 p.m. Wednesday night.
