ORLANDO – Western Kentucky third baseman Tim Grogan hit a solo home run in the top of the 10th inning to lead the Hilltoppers past No. 26 UCF 4-3 Sunday at Jay Bergman Field. The Hilltoppers won two of the three games in the series to improve to 2-1 overall while the Golden Knights dropped to 2-3.
The Golden Knights scored first with one run in the third inning. David Mann came through with a sacrifice bunt to score Drew Butera.
The game remained 1-0 until the sixth inning when the Hilltoppers scored two runs off UCF starter Taylor Cobb. Matt Gunning got WKU on the scoreboard with a two-run home run to right to give WKU a 2-1 lead.
Cobb pitched well in his first start of the year for UCF as he pitched 6.0 innings. The Jacksonville native allowed two runs on seven hits with three strikeouts.
UCF tied the game in the bottom of the sixth inning when Rich Wallace drilled his first home run of the season to left field to even the contest at two.
WKU took the lead again in the top of the eighth inning when Trevor Keesling singled to center field to bring home David Lower, giving the Hilltoppers a 3-2 advantage.
UCF responded quickly again in the home half of the eighth when pinch hitter Blaine Schulte hit a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring pinch runner Von David Stertzbach, tying the game again at three.
The game remained deadlocked until the top of the 10th inning when Grogan hit the solo homer to center.
Western Kentucky reliever Matt Wilhite (1-0) pitched 3.2 innings to earn the win. He struck out one while allowing one run on two hits.
UCF reliever Matt Fox (0-1) was tagged with the loss after allowing one run in two innings of work.
Offensively for the Golden Knights, Wallace finished with a season-high three hits for UCF including his home run.
The Golden Knights are back in action Tuesday, Feb. 18 at Bethune-Cookman. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. in Daytona Beach at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.