The Knights (18-16) lost 9-3 to USF (19-14) on Wednesday night. Though UCF came in to the game hoping to redeem themselves from their loss to the Bulls back in February (6-4), the Knights were unable to pull out a win.
There was no action from either offense through two innings as UCF starting pitcher Danny Davis retired the first six batters he saw, looking sharp and efficient on the mound.
The wheels began to fall off in the third inning when Davis put himself in a jam early, allowing two leadoff singles from the Bulls to put runners on the corners. UCF seemed to catch a break here when Austin Johnston fired a groundball smoked to third back home to save a run. Davis’ early mistakes took their toll in a hurry however, putting the Knights down 0-3 by serving up a three run bomb to USF shortstop Kyle Teaf.
The Knights’ luck didn’t get any better in the fourth, going down in order for the third consecutive inning. Harrison Hukari came in to relieve Davis in the bottom of the inning, and promptly gave up a double to USF right fielder Jimmy Falla. Falla advanced to third on a single, and scored on first baseman Buddy Putnam’s sacrifice fly to left.
UCF got its first base runner since the first inning to start the fifth when Parker Webster was hit by a pitch. Webster advanced to third when Austin Johnston doubled down the left field line. Ryan Breen put the ball in play with a ground ball to first base, enough for Webster to cross home for the Knights’ first run. Tommy Williams followed Breen’s productive out with one of his own, scoring Johnston on a sac fly to center field. The last run production of the game came after Brett Gordon connected for a single up the middle. JoMarcos Woods brought Gordon home with a nice piece of hitting, ripping a triple for his fiftheenth RBI on the season.
The Bulls exploded in the sixth inning and managed to put up five runs on UCF while the Knights’ offense remained stagnant. Spencer Davis gave up five runs before yielding the ball to reliever Tyler Martin. Davis allowed five hits and gave up a walk in that nightmare frame.
The score remained the same over the last three innings of play, the Knights unable to spark anything on offense late in the game. The loss is the sixth in a row for UCF.
The Knights are continuing their road trip to Houston, Texas to play a series of games against Rice, ranked No.14 in the nation. The first game will be Friday night at 7:30 p.m. and can be viewed on Fox College Sports.
