The Knights lost 5-2 in their second game against Memphis on Saturday. UCF (18-14, 4-4) has one remaining game against the Tigers (17-13, 4-4) to be played Sunday April 7 at 2 p.m.
The Knights’ pitching staff was charged with seven walks, two wild pitches and a hit batsman during the game. Lefty Chris Matulis was handed his second loss of the season after 3.1 innings of work. The miscues from the mound were a key element in the loss for a second consecutive night.
UCF pulled ahead in the first inning when leftfielder Erik Barber hit his first homerun on a 2-2 pitch to left center.
The Knights went up to 2-0 in the second when Bo Decker moved to third base on a grounder hit sharply by James Vasquez, setting up a sacrifice fly raked by shortstop Tommy Williams. This was the last time during the game the Knights managed to produce any runs.
Ethan Gross and Bryce Beeler scored a pair of runs for the Tigers in the bottom of the third, tying the Knights at 2.
UCF had a great chance to score in the fourth when Chris Taladay was able to advance to third on a wild pitch, but were unable to bring in the run.
The Tigers stole the lead on an RBI single stroked by Zach Willis in the bottom of the fourth, allowing Colton Simbeck of Memphis to score. This knocked lefty Chris Matulis out of the game, who was replaced by freshman Zac Favre. At the end of the fourth the score settled at 3-2 Memphis.
The fifth and sixth proved to be uneventful for both the Knights and their Conference USA counterparts. UCF came close again in the seventh when Williams doubled to left and advanced to third on a balk, putting a runner on third with no outs. However, Williams was thrown out at the plate trying to score on a ground ball hit to third.
The bottom of the seventh brought no good news for UCF. The Tigers scored on a muffed throw by first baseman James Vasquez, and again on a wild pitch by Harrison Hukari.
The eighth and ninth inning left no change in score for either UCF or Memphis, setting the final score at 2-5, Memphis Tigers.
The Knights will be looking to avoid the sweep in their final game, playing Sunday at 2 p.m.
