The UCF Knights fell 11-6 against the Jacksonville Dolphins in their final non-conference game of the season on Tuesday.
The Knights entered the game at John Euliano Park coming off a tough 4-game stretch where UCF lost in extra innings to the Florida State Seminoles and two out of three games in Alabama against the Troy Trojans.
After a scoreless first inning, the Dolphins got on the board after freshman Jackson Grabski popped a ball up high to right field with three Knights surrounded the ball but were blinded by the glare of the sun to allow the ball to land in play and get the Dolphins to a 1-0 lead by top of the second inning.
A bad omen for the Knights foreshadowing a bleak evening ahead.
With the Knights going scoreless at the bottom of the second inning, Dolphins’ redshirt junior Christian Coipel hit a double to midfield which produced 2 RBI after an error in the midfield by Knights’ freshman John Montes dropping the ball when he was about to throw to home plate leading to a two-run score by the Dolphins to bring the game to 3-0.
After Grabski hit another line drive single down the right-field line leading to another run for the Dolphins from freshman Blake Delamielleure to end the third quarter in a deep hole for the Knights at 4-0.
Mistakes and poor decision-making plagued the Knights with Montes making another critical mistake in the bottom of the fifth inning with a three-ball to one strike count trying to steal third base after head coach Greg Lovelady was waving him off from doing so.
Showing visible frustration after Rathbone struck out on the next pitch to end the inning leading to fans inside John Euliano park to make their way for the exit early.
UCF’s only highlight of the game was a deep 2-run home run over center field in the bottom of the eighth inning from sophomore Tom Josten and a triple from redshirt senior outfielder Jordan Rathbone in the ninth inning that had the Knights’ dugout rise to their feet in an otherwise low energy turnout.
UCF left-handed pitcher Ryan Saltonstall started the game for the Knights. The redshirt junior allowed two hits and one error, the Knights didn’t have an answer for the Dolphins’ offense.
The Knights went through seven different pitchers throughout the game, and despite the defensive changes, it wasn’t enough to stop the Dolphins from scoring — Jacksonville went on to score 11 runs off 10 hits in 38 at-bats.
The Knights had no offense, connecting with six pitches in 29 at-bats with 12 strikeouts through the game.
With the loss, the Knights’ losing streak extends to three and UCF falls to 10-14 overall.
The Knights will travel to Tampa next to take on the USF Bulls to begin American Athletic Conference play. The game will be at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
