Baseball Scores Early and Often to Top Presbyterian, 22-5Baseball Scores Early and Often to Top Presbyterian, 22-5

Baseball Scores Early and Often to Top Presbyterian, 22-5

by James Warnick
Box Score

ORLANDO – Andrew Sundean led the way with grand slam and a career-high six runs batted in as UCF baseball scored early and often en route to defeating Presbyterian 22-5 on Tuesday night at John Euliano Park.

The Knights posted crooked numbers in the first and sixth innings with a seven-run first and an 11-run sixth. Eleven different players recorded hits in the contest for the Black and Gold and eight of them posted multiple-hit performances. Starting pitcher Grant Siegel also gave the Black and Gold 7.0 solid innings of work, as UCF recorded the victory in what marked its final midweek and non-conference game of the year.

UCF moves to 28-24 overall with the win while PC of the Big South Conference drops to 17-33. The Black and Gold will close their regular season with a key three-game Big 12 series this weekend at home against Baylor.

“I was proud of our offensive production and Grant Siegel was outstanding for us tonight. It was also nice to see Hartley have a clean inning as well as Bauer get out there for the first time in a long time,” head coach Rich Wallace said. “Offensively, our pitch selection was better, and the plans also looked a little better. We saw the extra-base hit show up here in this one and obviously that helps a lot.”  

Trailing 2-0, the Black and Gold offense responded with seven runs on seven hits in the bottom of the first. With the bases loaded and nobody out, the senior Sundean hit out his first career grand slam to left field to give the Knights a 4-2 advantage. Following a single from Antonio Jimenez, Dylan King doubled him home. Braden Calise then made it 6-2 with an RBI single and the final run came home on a groundout off the bat of Mateo Gray.

The Knights added a run in the second on a sacrifice fly from Sundean and another in the third thanks to a deep solo home run to right field from King to make it 9-3. King’s round tripper traveled 414 feet and was clocked at 107 MPH off the bat.

Sundean drove in his sixth run of the game in the fourth inning with an RBI single and UCF then put the game away with 11 runs in the last of the sixth. In an inning that saw 15 batters come to the plate, Edian Espinal, Jimenez, Calise, Gray, DeAmez Ross, Chase Krewson and Robbie Demetree all drove in runs. Espinal led the way with an RBI single and an RBI double in the frame. The 11 runs came on 10 hits and marked a season-high for runs scored in an inning on the year.

With Siegel putting zeros on the board and retiring the side in order in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, the Knights then capped their scoring with an RBI double from the freshman Gray in the bottom of the seventh. Senior Wiley Hartley then entered on the mound and struck out the Blue Hose in order in the eighth and fellow senior Spencer Bauer finished it off by tossing the ninth.

Siegel earned the win to move to 5-2 after tying a season-high with 7.0 innings pitched. He surrendered just two earned runs on four hits while striking out three and walking just one batter. Presbyterian sent nine different pitchers to the mound and starter Mason McDaniel was tagged with the loss to drop to 1-2.

Sundean led the way for UCF from the plate by going a perfect 2-for-2 with a grand slam, two runs scored and a career-best six RBIs, while King went 3-for-4 with a double, a homer two runs scored and two RBIs. Calise also had a three-hit game and drove in three runs while Espinal and Matt Prevesk added three hits apiece. Andrew Williamson scored a game-high four runs. In all, UCF recorded season-highs in both runs and hits on the night with 22 runs on 23 hits.

The game marked the first of a final four-game homestand for the Knights as well as the Black and Gold’s fourth win over its last five games.

UCF will close its regular season by welcoming Baylor to town for a key three-game Big 12 Conference Thursday to Saturday at John Euliano Park. A trip to next week’s 2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship will be on the line for both teams, as UCF will enter the weekend tied for 12th and Baylor currently in 11th. The top 12 teams will qualify for the conference tournament. Thursday and Friday’s games are set for 6 p.m. while Saturday’s finale will begin at 1 p.m.