CORAL GABLES, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) - The UCF Baseball team knocked off Miami 5-2 at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light field Wednesday. Despite striking out 12 times, the Knights built an advantage through timely hitting, solid defense and making key pitches with runners on base.
"I don't think we played our best tonight, but we played well when we needed to," UCF head coach Greg Lovelady told Marc Daniels after the game. "We put ourselves in too much trouble but we got the pitch when we needed to with runners on. Same thing offensively, we didn't make enough adjustments early on in the game. But we got the hits when we needed to, a couple big home runs and then Luke [Hamblin] comes up huge with a hit to score a couple of runs late."
The Knights grabbed the lead immediately in the top of the first inning after center fielder Luke Hamblin drew a lead-off walk. Right fielder Eli Putnam then stepped in and turned on the second pitch he saw, blasting a home run over the scoreboard in left field. It was his seventh round tripper of the year.
The Black and gold would go deep again in the fourth, when left fielder Kyle Marsh added his fifth home run of the year. Marsh delivered the blast on a 0-1 count to give the Knights a 3-0 lead.
On a staff day, UCF hurlers got out of key jams early in the game and notched 13-total strikeouts. It wasn't until the eighth inning that Miami was able to break through and put up one run on three hits.
The Knights answered in the ninth, posting two more insurance runs to take a 5-1 lead. With runners at second and third and one out, Hamblin ripped a single through the right side, notching two big RBIs and pushing the advantage to four heading into the final frame.
After the Hurricanes lead-off man grounded out, the home team got a walk and a single off of UCF closer Bryce Tucker. Tucker would fan the next hitter before a two-out double brought home a run and cut the lead to three. With runners on the corners and two outs, Tucker rose to the occasion, striking out the final hitter on a full count to end the game.
Next up, the Knights head to Cincinnati for a three-game set with the Bearcats May 12-14. UCF is currently tied for second in The American with Houston at 11-7, just one game back of 12-6 South Florida.
Catch all the action this weekend on FM 96.9 The Game via iHeartRadio with the Voice of the Knights Marc Daniels on the call. Fans can also click here to follow along via live stats.