Baseball Takes Game One at Texas Tech, 7-3Baseball Takes Game One at Texas Tech, 7-3

Baseball Takes Game One at Texas Tech, 7-3

by James Warnick
Box Score

LUBBOCK, Texas – Andrew Williamson homered in the first and Antonio Jimenez delivered a go-ahead RBI single in the seventh to lift UCF baseball to a 7-3 series-opening victory at Texas Tech late Friday night at Rip Griffin Park.

“Espinal had that nice backside double early and Willy followed with a big two-run home run to get us off the mat there in the first,” head coach Rich Wallace said. “Wicker was outstanding for us on the mound tonight. Stagliano, Castellano and Sos all followed with strong outings as well. We left a lot of meat on the bone offensively, but we stuck with it and had some big hits from Jimenez and Krewson in the seventh as well as some insurance runs in the ninth.

“Overall, a lot of good things happened tonight. Hopefully we can build on it tomorrow (Saturday).”

Despite a late start following a two-and-a-half-hour weather delay, UCF (26-23, 7-18 Big 12) didn’t waste any time getting things going as Edian Espinal doubled with one away in the first and Williamson followed by blasting out a two-run home run to deep right field to give the Black and Gold an early lead. Williamson’s round tripper marked his team-leading 10th of the season and traveled 436 feet and was clocked at 106 MPH off the bat.

After UCF starter Camden Wicker retired the Red Raiders (17-29, 11-14 Big 12) in order in the bottom of the first, the Knight offense threatened for more in the top of the second. Chase Krewson worked a walk and Dylan King had a one-out hit to put both runners in scoring position. TTU starter Mac Heuer managed to escape the jam with back-to-back strikeouts.

With Wicker putting zeros on the board and pitching well through 4.2 innings, Texas Tech managed to piece together a two-out rally in the bottom of the fifth to cut the deficit in half and make it a 2-1 contest. Following a walk and a hit batter, Coleman Ryan plated a run with an RBI single.

With Wicker having exited after striking out a career-high seven batters and surrendering just one run on two hits over 5.0 solid innings of work, the Knights went to the bullpen and the Red Raiders managed to tie things up. With runners on the corners following a single and an error, Antonelli Savattere dropped down a squeeze bunt and Mateo Gray looked to have thrown the runner out at the plate, but after review he was called safe to deadlock the score. Tech then loaded the bases on a single and Dominic Castellano entered from the bullpen for the Knights. Castellano did a nice job of halting the Red Raider rally by retiring the first two men he faced via a popout and a lineout to leave the bases loaded.

The Black and Gold offense then responded in the top of the seventh with a pair of runs to take a 4-2 advantage. Espinal led off the frame with a walk. He later stole second and advanced to third on a groundout. Jimenez then gave UCF the lead with a clutch RBI double to left center to bring in Espinal. With Jimenez on second, Krewson then ripped a single through the right side of the infield that brought in Jimenez to extend the Knights’ lead.

Castellano continued to pitch well in relief, as he retired the Red Raiders in order in the bottom of the seventh and struck out the side in the eighth.

UCF quickly loaded the bases in the top of the ninth and Braden Calise plated a pair of insurance runs with a two-run single through the left side. Dylan King then drove in another run with a safety squeeze to extend the lead to 7-2.

Texas Tech threatened in the bottom of the ninth by getting two runners aboard with nobody out, but Kris Sosnowski entered and King managed to catch a runner too far off the bag at first base for the first out of the inning. After a groundout for the second out, the Red Raiders picked up a run on a two-out RBI single from Kyeler Thompson. Sosnowski responded, however, with a game-ending strikeout to seal the victory.

Wicker went 5.0 innings and struck out a career-high seven batters while allowing just one run on two hits. Castellano (6-1) earned the win in relief after giving up just one run on two hits while striking out three over 2.2 innings. Sosnowski finished things off by allowing just one hit and no runs in the ninth. TTU’s Lukas Pirko was tagged with the loss to fall to 0-4 on the year.

Espinal and King had three hits apiece to lead the way for the Knights while Williamson and Calise each had two hits and drove in a pair of runs. Coleman paced Texas Tech by going 2-for-3 with an RBI.

With the win, UCF will enter Saturday just a half game back of BYU for 12th place in the conference standings. The top 12 teams will qualify for the 2025 Big 12 Baseball Championship.

The Knights and Red Raiders will continue the series on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT. The series finale will then come on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT. Both games will air live on ESPN+ as well as FM 96.9 The Game.