In Greenville, North Carolina, the University of Central Florida Baseball team ran a 9 run rally in the eighth inning to claim victory against East Carolina University.
Both third baseman Kam Gellinger and right fielder Eli Putnam were struck by pitches, earning UCF two walks to first after Gellinger’s score to notch a point in ECU’s 2-0 lead.
With two outs in the eighth, left fielder Kyle Marsh made three walks for UCF on bases loaded to tie up the game. First baseman Rylan Thomas pulled an error on ECU’s diving second baseman, giving UCF a 4-2 lead once Putnam and Mika ran into home.
Yet two more walks for Knights’ Ryan Crile and Brennan Bozeman loaded the bases once again for the visiting team. Gellinger saw himself over home base with a pitch square in the strike zone. Gellinger drew back and struck a grand slam over the wall of Clark-LeClair Stadium, his first home run of the season.
The struggling ECU lineup retired one-by-one at the hands of UCF pitcher Jason Bahr. A Pirates home run gave hope to the lineup with a now 9-4 score and the chance for a copy of UCF’s eighth inning play. Bahr closed that opportunity by retiring the next three batters with three fly balls.
The series finale begins Saturday at ECU at noon. UCF leads 2-0.
