CINCINNATI, Ohio (UCFKnights.com) - The UCF baseball team notched another big win at Cincinnati Saturday, led by a gutty performance at Marge Schott Stadium from sophomore right-hander Chris Williams.
"That was the best I've seen him pitch," UCF head coach Greg Lovelady said. "We really needed it. We've been trying to win a lot of series' on Saturday's and just haven't been able to do it. For him to go out and be able to execute pitches today, when we really needed it, that was an unbelievable performance."
Earlier in the week, Williams received word that his Grandfather had passed away. He chose to stay with team in order to start Saturday's game before flying home to attend the memorial service.
"I know it's been weighing on him the last couple days," Lovelady continued. "It probably wasn't easy to pitch with a heavy heart. I'm really proud of him for coming out and giving us such a great effort."
The Bearcats struck first after a lead-off double and back-to-back ground ball outs pushed a run across in the first inning. After the Bearcats lead-off man, Williams faced 19 batters through six innings without giving up another hit. After giving up a run in the opening frame, his teammates immediately got his back in the second inning.
Left fielder Kyle Marsh started the second inning with a single up the middle and moved to second on a wild pitch. First baseman Rylan Thomas drew a walk and then third baseman Kam Gellinger moved the runners over with a sacrifice bunt. With one out, second baseman Matthew Mika was clutch, ripping a two-RBI single to left-center field.
Now leading 2-1, Thomas came up with one out in the seventh and delivered his 12th round tripper of the season, a solo shot off the scoreboard in right, extending the lead to 3-1.
The Bearcats best chance to even things up also came in the seventh. UCF reliever Jason Bahr came on in relief and found himself in a jam after a lead-off walk and a one-out single put runners on the corners. Bahr had notched the first out by fanning the second hitter of the inning.
The Knights right-hander rose to the occasion, getting the next hitter to pop foul to third before getting another big strikeout to end the threat. Bahr would also pitch a clean eighth inning, striking out two more. He leads the Knights with 79 strikeouts on the season.
Finally it was closer Bryce Tucker who came on and earned his ninth save of the year. The left-hander had help though, as The Black and Gold made three spectacular defensive plays to close out the game.
First, right fielder Eli Putnam tracked a fly ball all the way to the fence in right center, making the grab a split-second before crashing into the wall. Next, it was Marsh who made a sliding grab on a line drive to left center, before short stop Brennan Bozeman snared a looping line drive as he ranged into shallow left for the final out of the game.
With the win, the Knights clinch the season series with Cincinnati and remain tied with Houston for a share of first place in the American at 13-7.
Sunday's finale is scheduled for noon, with Marc Daniels on the call on iHeartRadio and FM 96.9 The Game. Fans can also click here to follow along via live stats.
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