ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) - The No. 23 UCF baseball team won both games of Saturday's doubleheader against Siena at John Euliano Park. The Knights relied upon a pair of solid outings from starting pitchers Chris Williams and Thad Ward to blank the Saints twice, 1-0 and 2-0.
UCF (12-3) allowed just nine hits over 18 shutout innings, as the Knights walked off in the opener and struck early in the nightcap to top the Saints (0-13).
"Obviously, you'll always take two wins," head coach Greg Lovelady said. "I'm proud of the guys for that. The pitchers did a tremendous job today. Throwing 18 scoreless innings is not very easy to do. We played pretty good defense for the most part, especially in the second game when Matthew Mika and Jackson Webb saved us with some great defensive plays. Offensively, their guy threw really well in the first game. We had a lot of loud outs. I thought offensively in the second game that we weren't very good. With moving tomorrow's game up to 11 a.m., we'll see how tough we are with three games in 24 hours, plus the time change."
GAME 1
Despite struggling at the plate, the Knights were carried by the impressive outing from Williams. The redshirt junior made his way through a career-high eight innings with six strikeouts and six hits against. The Saints could only muster two runners in scoring position against Williams.
Offensively, the Black and Gold struggled to find an answer to Siena starter Brendan White. The Knights put runners on base in the first and third innings, only to hit into a pair of double plays.
In a game that looked destined to head to extra innings, left fielder Tyler Osik had other plans. With two outs and Rylan Thomas on first in the bottom of the ninth, the junior sent the 10th pitch of his at-bat off the wall in right field. Thomas rounded third and beat the throw home easily for UCF's second walk-off win of the year.
Cre Finfrock came on in relief for the ninth inning. The righty fanned a pair and walked one to pick up the win.
KEY STATS
No. 23 UCF - 1, Siena - 0
Winning pitcher: Cre Finfrock (1-0)
Losing pitcher: Tom Sutera (0-1)
Top performers: Chris Williams (8 IP, 6 H, 6 K, 0 R), Cre Finfrock (1 IP, 0 R, 2 K)
NOTABLES
* Finfrock's win was his first since May 27, 2016, against Tulane. He is now 12-12 in his career.
* Logan Heiser reached safely on all three of his trips to the plate - a hit by pitch, double and walk.
* Williams tossed a career-high 108 pitches.
* Rylan Thomas went 2-for-4 at the plate.
GAME 2
Thad Ward picked up right where Williams and Finfrock left off. The junior fanned six through the opening three innings and did not give up a hit until the fourth. For the second straight game, Siena managed to place just two runners in scoring position against the UCF starter. Ward exited after a career-long seven innings with a career-high 10 strikeouts with three hits and one walk against.
The Knights struck quickly with runs in the first and second. Freshman Dalton Wingo drove in the first run of his career with a double to right center in the second. One inning later, Thomas tallied his 20th RBI of the season on a sacrifice fly to bring in Ray Alejo.
The one-two punch of Garrett Westberg and Bryce Tucker closed out the final two innings. Westberg went 1 1/3 with a trio of punchouts, while Tucker notched his second save of the year by striking out the last two batters of the game.
KEY STATS
No. 23 UCF - 2, Siena - 0
Winning pitcher: Thad Ward (1-1)
Losing pitcher: Tommy Miller (0-4)
Top performers: Thad Ward (7 IP, 10 K, 0 R, 1 BB), Garrett Westberg (1.1 IP, 3 K), Bryce Tucker (0.2 IP, 2 K)
NOTABLES
* The five hits were the fewest in a win for the Knights this season.
* Westberg and Tucker needed 29 pitches to retire the final six batters.
* Alejo recorded his 11th stolen base of the year.
* Ward became the first UCF pitcher to strike out 10 batters since Robby Howell fanned 11 against UConn last year.
STRONG STARTERS
* Ward and Williams combined to strike out 16 batters over 15 innings of work.
* The duo surrendered just one walk.
* Both pitchers topped their previous career high in pitches thrown.
TURNING TWO
* The starting pitchers also had some help from the defense with three double plays.
* Mika, Brandon Hernandez and Thomas combined for a 4-6-3 double play in the opener, after Logan Heiser threw a runner out at second after a strikeout.
* Mika, Hernandez and Thomas turned another 4-6-3 double play in the fourth inning of game two.
DOUBLEHEADER NOTABLES
* UCF now leads the Siena Series 53-4.
* After not shutting out opponents in back-to-back games since 2006, the Knights have accomplished the feat twice this year.
* The Knights are now on an 11-game winning streak, two shy of the fifth longest streak in program history from 1998.
* Both games on Saturday were less than three hours long, including the shortest game of the year at 2:21 for the nightcap.
* UCF was held without a stolen base for the third time this year in game one, but the Black and Gold swiped four bags in the second game.
* The Knights have held opponents off the board for the last 19 innings.
SCHEDULE UPDATE
Due to rain in the forecast, the Knights and the Saints will play at 11 a.m. on Sunday. UCF will throw Jordan Spicer against Siena's John Nolan.
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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