NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Belmont first baseman Dan Soukup delivered a RBI-bloop single in the ninth inning to right giving the host Bruins a 7-6 win over UCF Friday afternoon at Greer Stadium in Nashville.
The Bruins improved to 16-12 overall and 12-7 in the A-Sun while UCF dropped to 22-14 and 7-6 in the conference. UCF totaled 14 hits to Belmont’s eight, but the Golden Knights committed three errors and left 11 runners on base in the one-run loss.
Senior first baseman Ryan Bear drilled his team-leading fourth home run of the season in the second inning to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead. The long blast traveled an estimated 420 feet to centerfield. The home run was also the first for a UCF player since Bear hit a three-run home run at Samford March 22, nine games ago. UCF looked to have a big inning going as Clay Timpner and Rich Wallace followed with singles to start the inning, but the two were stranded on second and third base to end the inning.
Belmont scored two runs in the home half of the second to take a 2-1 lead. The first run scored after Jon Cooper fired a relay throw off Soukup as he attempted to tag from second to third on a fly out. Soukup scored as the ball reached the stands. Later in the inning, Clay Peterson scored on a wild pitch by UCF starter Taylor Cobb to give the Bruins a 2-1 advantage.
UCF rallied for one run in the third to tie the contest at two. Dee Brown singled down the left field line to score David Mann, who led the inning off with a walk, to even the score.
The Bruins knocked out Cobb in the fourth inning after totaling three hits and earning two walks off the right-hander. Cobb yielded a sacrifice fly for the first run in the inning to give Belmont a 3-2 lead. After a walk to load the bases, Cobb issued his second straight walk to the ninth place batter in Belmont’s lineup to force in the fourth run of the game for the Bruins. The long inning continued for UCF as Von David Stertzbach came in out of the bullpen to walk Josh Radke giving Belmont a 5-2 lead.
The Golden Knights responded with one run of their own in the fifth cutting the deficit to 5-3. Nathan Kragt lined a double down the left field line and advanced to third on a throwing error by Belmont left fielder Brad Dobner. Brown followed with his second RBI of the game with a sacrifice fly to center to pull UCF to within two.
Belmont added to its lead with a run in the seventh to take a 6-3 lead. Peterson drove in a run with a single to left center field after UCF committed two errors in the inning to help lead to the run.
The Golden Knights rallied again in the eighth to score three runs on five hits to tie the game at six. Wallace started the scoring with a RBI-single, his third hit of the game, to score Bear. Drew Butera followed with a RBI-single to left field scoring Timpner. Pinch hitter Ryan Bono then laced a single up the middle to tie the contest at six. With the bases loaded, Mann looked to have a two-run single to center, but Belmont center fielder Jay Pettus made a sensational diving catch to rob UCF of the go-ahead runs.
Belmont scored the game-winning run after freshman reliever Kyle Bono entered the game with one out and runners on first and second. Soukup hit a soft single to right that just dropped in front of a diving Brown to clinch the win for Belmont. Soukup ended the game 2-for-4 with two runs scored and extended his hitting streak to 20 games on the year.
Belmont reliever Will Tucker pitched the final 1.1 innings to improve to 2-1 on the year. Stertzbach earned the tough-luck loss for UCF after a solid effort out of the bullpen. Stertzbach (1-4) lasted 4.2 innings, allowing two runs on three hits with two strikeouts.
Bear led UCF with a 3-for-5 performance including two runs scored and a RBI.
The two teams finish the three-game series Saturday at 2 p.m. EST.
Game Notes: UCF reliever Von David Stertzbach moved into sixth place on the career strikeout list at UCF with two strikeouts on the day. Stertzbach now has 205 strikeouts in his career, one ahead of current UCF pitching coach Craig Cozart.