ORLANDO – The UCF baseball team defeated Georgia State 15-3 in game one of a doubleheader, but lost the rubber game of the series 3-2 in the second game Saturday at Jay Bergman Field. The Golden Knights lost their first-ever three-game series to the Panthers, two games to one. Georgia State improved to 11-9 overall and 5-4 in the A-Sun while UCF dropped to 15-7 and 1-2 in conference play.
In the day’s first game, UCF pummeled the Panthers for 15 runs on 14 hits en route to the victory. Drew Butera, Nathan Kragt, Dave Lambert and Jon Cooper each drove in three runs for the victors. Lambert's three RBI came on one swing as he belted his first career home run over the fence in right field as a pinch hitter.
UCF starter Lincoln Mincks scattered nine hits over 6.0 innings of work to improve to 4-1 on the year. Georgia State starter Tim Burgess (1-4) failed to get out of the first inning as he yielded five runs on three hits in 0.2 innings of work.
In the second game, UCF scored a run in the second and third innings to take the early 2-0 lead. The score remained the same as UCF starting pitcher Mark Michael sailed through the first five innings, allowing no runs on just one hit.
The Panthers got things going with small ball in the sixth thanks to a walk and two bunt single base hits. With the bases loaded and no outs, Dustin Phillips drove in a run with a RBI-groundout to cut the lead to 2-1. After Michael struck out Rusty Bennett for the second out in the inning, Burgess hit a soft single through the right side to score two runs to give GSU the lead for good at 3-2.
GSU starter Jonathan Craig earned the win by tossing 5.1 innings for the Panthers. He yielded just two runs on four hits with two strikeouts. Justin Meyer pitched the final 1.2 innings and struck out one for his first save of the season.
Michael was the tough-luck loser for UCF, falling to 3-1. In 5.2 innings, Michael allowed three runs on four hits with six strikeouts.
The Golden Knights return to the diamond Tuesday at home vs. Columbia. Game time is set for noon at Jay Bergman Field.
Game Notes: UCF’s Ryan Bear extended his hitting streak to 12 games after going 1-for-2 in game one and 2-for-3 in game two. UCF’s Dee Brown’s 11-game hitting streak ended in the second game of the doubleheader as he finished 0-for-3.
Baseball Splits Doubleheader, Loses Series To Georgia State
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