TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The UCF baseball team was defeated by Auburn 7-4 in the opening round of the NCAA Tallahassee Regional Friday. The Knights will now face the loser of Florida State and Tennessee Tech in an elimination game at noon on Saturday at Dick Howser Stadium.
"We did some good things today, and we did some bad things that ended up costing us the game," UCF head coach Greg Lovelady said after the game. "We gave away a lot of runs. Keegan (Thompson) was probably the best arm we've seen all year and pitched really well. When you play against a guy like that, you have to be able to take advantage of your opportunities and not give away runs."
Despite the loss, the Knights got another quality start from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper All-American Robby Howell. In the end, Howell threw seven innings, giving up four runs on 10 hits and three errors. He threw 118 pitches and struck out four batters but took his first loss of the season as the Knights offense was unable to solve Auburn's ace.
"Robby did a great job," Lovelady said of his hurler. "They didn't put a lot of barrels on balls against him and he was able to manage the game really well. He got a lot of double plays and a lot of weak contact. It's easy to get frustrated, easy to panic or get upset. He's not an All-American for nothing, he was able to manage those situations and able to pitch out of it, we just didn't make enough plays."
UCF turned four double plays against the Tigers, tied for the most by the Knights in any single game within the last decade. The Knights escaped a bases-loaded, nobody out situation in the top of the sixth, giving up just one run and keeping the game close at 3-1 at the time.
Bright spots for the UCF offense came in the form of home runs in the second and ninth innings. Down 2-0 early in the game, slugger Rylan Thomas launched his 14th round tripper of the season over the wall in right-center field. The solo shot set a new program record for home runs by a freshman.
In the ninth, third baseman Kam Gellinger added a bomb of his own. The two-run blast was his third of the season and cut the lead to 7-4. Unfortunately for the Black and Gold, Auburn had scored a run in the seventh and added a three-run home run in the eighth to put the game just out of reach.
As the Knights wait to see who their next opponent will be, Saturday's elimination game is scheduled for noon and fans can follow all the action on WatchESPN or listen along with Marc Daniels on iHeart Radio / FM 96.9 The Game.