ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The UCF baseball team tossed a season-high 14 strikeouts and allowed just three hits on Tuesday night at Stetson, but it was not enough. The No. 24 Knights were held to four hits in a 1-0 loss to the Hatters.
UCF (1-3) starting pitcher Thad Ward was saddled with the loss, despite a career-high seven strikeouts over three innings of working, all coming on the first seven outs of the game. Ward worked himself out of a bases-loaded jam with one out in the third, but Stetson (4-0) tallied its lone run of the game on a sacrifice fly.
JJ Montgomery came on in relief for two innings. The Indianapolis, Ind., native gave up a triple on his first pitch of the night, but quickly settled in to retire three of the next four batters on strikes.
Freshman Jack Sinclair made his collegiate debut over 1.1 innings. Eric Hepple kept the Knights within one in the seventh inning. The senior came on with the bases loaded and forced a fly ball to centerfield for the final out of the inning.
The Black and Gold forced the Hatters to leave 10 runners on base. On offense, the Knights could not find an answer to Joey Gonzalez. The Stetson starter fanned seven over seven innings and scattered four hits. Brooks Wilson came on for a six-out save, punching out five in the process.
"I thought the pitchers did well," head coach Greg Lovelady said. "Thad wasn't as sharp as I would have liked. I thought he lost it a little bit in the third, but he did a good job of managing it by only giving up one run. Right now, those runs really matter. We need to lean on pitchers more to get to the bullpen more. We need to do a better job of competing. We need to have a good two days of practice to figure this stuff out."
KEY STATS
No. 24 UCF (1-3) - 0, Stetson (4-0) - 1
Winning pitcher: Joey Gonzalez (1-0)
Losing pitcher: Thad Ward (0-1)
Top performers: Thad Ward (3 IP, 7 K, 1 H), JJ Montgomery (2 IP, 5 K, 2 H)
NOTABLES
• The Knights topped 10 strikeouts for the second straight game.
• Ward posted the longest start of his career with 3.0 innings.
• The Knights now lead the series with Stetson 71-48, with a 31-24 mark in DeLand.
• Montgomery has now struck out at least five batters without allowing a run in his two appearances this season.
• The 14 punchouts for the Black and Gold were the most since fanning 15 against FAU on April 11, 2017.
UP NEXT
The Knights return to John Euliano Park for a three-game series against Savannah State this weekend.
DON'T MISS THE ACTION
Season and single-game tickets for UCF Baseball are on sale. Featuring a 36-game home schedule, John Euliano Park is set to host some of the best collegiate baseball in the country. For more information on tickets call 407-823-1000 or log on to ticketmaster.com.
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