ORLANDO – Roberto Rodriguez was 2-for-4 with a solo home run to lead Bethune-Cookman past UCF 7-4 Wednesday evening at Jay Bergman Field in Orlando. The loss snapped UCF’s five-game winning streak as the Golden Knights dropped to 9-5 overall. Bethune-Cookman raised its record to 3-11.
The Wildcats scored all of their runs in two innings. B-CC tallied three runs in the second and four in the fourth to take a commanding 7-1 lead after 3.5 innings.
The Golden Knights tried to come back, scoring two in the fourth and one in the fifth, but it wasn’t enough as they stranded 11 runners on base.
UCF had a golden opportunity in the ninth as the bases were loaded with no outs, but B-CC freshman closer Colin Irvine came in and struck out the side to nail down his first collegiate save.
The Wildcats received a quality start from John Gragg (2-3). The southpaw tossed 6.0 innings and allowed six hits while striking out two for the win. UCF starter Rob Braleski yielded four runs on seven hits in 3.1 innings of work to fall to 0-1.
B-CC registered 11 hits on the night, including two by Rodriguez and Sebastien Boucher (2-for-3, 2 RBI).
Clay Timpner and Dee Brown each recorded two hits for the game for UCF. Ryan Bear also drove in a pair for the Golden Knights.
UCF returns to the diamond Friday, Mar. 7 at Mercer. The Golden Knights open A-Sun play at 4 p.m. in Macon, Ga. Friday. The two teams close out the three-game series Saturday at 12:30 p.m. with two, seven-inning contests.
Bethune-Cookman Stops Baseball, 7-4
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