ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The UCF baseball team opened up play in the American Athletic Conference with a win Friday, defeating No. 11 Houston 5-2. The Knights solved Cougars ace and top prospect Seth Romero, and snapped an 11-game winning streak for the visitors in the process.
Despite a career-high 14 strikeouts for Romero, the Black and gold were able to string together some big hits with runners on base and make some solid plays in the field.
"I'm really proud of the guys," UCF head coach Greg Lovelady said after the game. "We did a bunch of different things that I really liked. The guys were confident, even when we had struck out nine times, but they never quit and put some hits together when it counted. We showed a lot of mental toughness tonight."
The Knights went to work in the bottom half of the fourth down 1-0, and started the inning with three-straight doubles. Lead-off man Kyle Marsh was first, blasting his 10th double of the season to the corner in left field. He then took third on a passed ball and scored the tying run when right fielder Eli Putnam doubled to virtually the same spot.
Next it was catcher Logan Heiser, who laced a ball to the gap in right center scoring Putnam. With one out, Heiser moved to third on a passed ball before third baseman Brooks Morgan brought him in with a ground ball to second base, putting the Knights up 3-1.
Houston got a run back in the top of the sixth, after three-straight singles with two outs cut the Knights lead to one, but it was Morgan who came up big for UCF in the bottom half of the inning. On a 2-1 count, he sent a bomb over the fence in left-center field. The two-run blast was his first home run of the season and extended the Knights lead to three.
UCF starter Robby Howell went six strong innings, giving up two runs on seven hits with just three walks. Redshirt junior reliever Jordan Scheftz followed with two scoreless innings of his own before sophomore closer Bryce Tucker came in and slammed the door.
In the ninth, Tucker induced a fly-ball out from the first hitter before striking out the next two, securing the victory. The save was his sixth of the season.
Knights by the Numbers
- Second baseman Matthew Mika extended his hitting streak to 13 games, the longest of any Knight this season.
- Morgan went 2-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBIs
- Marsh tallied his 10th double of the season and added his 23rd RBI
- Tucker now has notched 34 strikeouts and 6 saves in just 16.1 innings of work.
- Houston took its first loss since falling to No 10 Baylor on the road on Mar. 12
- The victory is the second by the Knights over a ranked opponent this season (No. 2 UF, Mar. 1)
The series continues with Saturday's first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and Sundays finale slated for 1 p.m. Catch the action all weekend streaming live on UCFKnights.TV or click here to follow along via live stats. Fans can also tune in to iHeart Radio, FM 96.9 The Game or 740 AM.
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