ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) - Three home runs, as well as a three-out save by Bryce Tucker, capped an electric night at John Euliano Park, as the UCF baseball team opened up its weekend series against Cincinnati with a 5-4 victory.
Tyler Osik, Dalton Wingo and Rylan Thomas homered to help the Knights overcome a four-run deficit, before Tucker closed out the game with his fifth save of the year.
"I hope we don't have to win another game by hitting three home runs," head coach Greg Lovelady said. "We built a team that can win in different ways. We didn't play very well in those first few innings. The bullpen did a tremendous job of getting us through the game. Thad, Tucker and Hepple were phenomenal. We kept competing at the plate. We felt more comfortable later in the game. Osik, Rylan and Wingo did a great job to hit those three big home runs. I'm proud of the guys for sticking together and finding a way to fight through to the end."
Cincinnati struck first in the opening inning with a pair of runs on two hits. The Bearcats tacked on another run when the Knights gave up a bases-loaded walk in the third inning. Offensively, UCF struggled at the beginning to find an answer to Cincinnati starting pitcher JT Perez, who held the Black and Gold to just one hit through the opening five frames.
After the Bearcats extended their lead to four with a sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth, Osik brought the Knights back into the game with one swing of the bat. The junior drilled a 2-2 delivery to left center for a three-run homer. Then, Wingo roped a solo homer down the left field line to even the score in the seventh. Rylan Thomas needed just one pitch in the eighth to put the Knights on top for good. The sophomore crushed a the first offering of his at-bat to the left field bullpen for a leadoff home run.
KEY STATS
UCF (24-11, 5-5) - 5, Cincinnati (16-16, 6-4) - 4
Winning pitcher: Eric Hepple (1-1)
Losing pitcher: AJ Kullman (1-2)
Save: Bryce Tucker (5)
Top Performers: Thad Ward (3.2 IP, 5 K, 2 H, 1 ER), Tyler Osik (1-4, 3 RBI, 1 HR), Dalton Wingo (1-4, 1 RBI, 1 HR), Rylan Thomas (2-4, 1 RBI, 1 HR), Eric Hepple (1.1 IP, 3 K, 0 H), Bryce Tucker (1 IP, 2 K, 1 H, 1 IBB)
BACKUP FROM THE BULLPEN
* After starter Joe Sheridan made his exit in the third, the UCF bullpen was called upon to keep the Black and Gold within striking distance.
* Thad Ward came on for the next 3 2/3 innings to strike out five and allowed just two hits and one run. He pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the third.
* Garrett Westberg and Eric Hepple combined to roll through the seventh and eighth innings with five strikeouts. The latter worked out of the seventh with a strikeout with the bases loaded.
* Tucker closed out the game with a pair of strikeouts. The junior kept the tying run on third for the final two outs.
MONSTER MASH
* UCF homered in three consecutive innings to mark its eighth game with multiple home runs this season.
* Thomas notched his 23rd career homer, bringing him within two of the program's career top-10.
* Four of Osik's six home runs this season have come with runners on base.
* Wingo tallied his second home run of the year. 13 of UCF's 28 home runs this season have come from first-year Knights.
NOTABLES
* UCF opened its weekend series against Cincinnati with a win for the third straight year.
* The Knights were outhit 9-6 on the night. UCF is now 3-7 this season when outhit by opponents.
* With the addition of his double in the first inning, Thomas has 18 extra-base hits this year.
* Thomas is seven RBI away from hitting the century mark for his career.
* Ward now leads the team with 55 strikeouts in 2018. He is two away from 100 career punchouts.
* Friday night marked the 10th win in the Lovelady era when the Black and Gold trailed after the fifth inning.
* Osik recorded his sixth multi-RBI game of the year and his first three-RBI outing.
* The pitching staff finished the night with 13 strikeouts for its 19th double-figure punchout game of the year.
* Tucker had a much more subdued reaction after striking out the last batter of the game on Friday night, delivering a kiss to catcher Logan Heiser's mask.
UP NEXT
The Knights and Bearcats will square off at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday night. Chris Williams will get the ball for UCF against Cincinnati's Nathan Kroger.
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