ORLANDO – UCF senior right-handed pitcher Mark Michael tossed his third consecutive complete game victory to lead the Golden Knights to a 6-0 win over Campbell in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday at Jay Bergman Field. The Fighting Camels came back to win the second game of the doubleheader 8-5 to avoid the three-game sweep.
After winning the three-game series two games to one, UCF is now 22-12 overall and 7-5 in the Atlantic Sun while Campbell is 13-19 overall and 8-13 in conference play.
In the day’s first game, Michael was sensational in limiting the Camels to no runs on just four hits with six strikeouts. The complete game shutout victory for Michael was the first by a UCF pitcher since Justin Pope tossed a 3-0 shutout over Jacksonville on March 24, 2001. With the victory, Michael improved his record to 6-1 on the season.
UCF’s offense gave Michael one run to work with in the first inning when Dee Brown hit a RBI-single through the left side to score Nathan Kragt.
The score was still 1-0 in the fifth inning when Campbell threatened with its best scoring opportunity of the game. With two outs and Chris Wiley on second base, Jeff Blick singled to center field and Wiley rounded third heading for home before UCF center fielder Clay Timpner tossed a perfect strike from center to nail down Wiley at the plate, preserving the 1-0 lead.
UCF pushed across two runs in the bottom of the fifth and three in the sixth to close out the scoring.
Kragt finished game one 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI while Ryan Bear tallied two hits for the victors. Sophomore Tim Ford, making his first career start at designated hitter, was also a perfect 2-for-2 with a run scored for the Golden Knights.
Campbell avoided the three-game sweep by scoring two runs in the first and three in the third inning of the second game. The Camels scored six runs off UCF starter Lincoln Mincks in just 4.2 innings of work to take an early 6-3 lead. Derek Barrows launched his second home run of the series in the seventh inning to give Campbell an 8-3 lead. Barrows was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and four RBI for CU.
UCF did manage to score two runs in the bottom of the seventh, but it was not enough, losing 8-5. Kragt and Timpner both had two hits for UCF in game two while Jon Cooper was 1-for-3 with a two-run double.
Campbell starter Jeff Stovall pitched well in the second game for the Camels, going the distance for the win. Stovall yielded just one earned run while totaling four strikeouts to improve to 4-3 on the year.
UCF is back in action Tuesday, April 8 at South Florida. Game time is 7 p.m., from Tampa. The contest will also be carried live on the UCF ISP Sports Network. Marc Daniels will begin the pre-game show on 740-AM The Team at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday evening.
Baseball Splits Doubleheader With Campbell To Earn Series Win
Share