ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) - The UCF baseball team will head into this weekend's War On I-4 on a winning note after downing Bethune-Cookman 7-1 on Wednesday night at John Euliano Park.
Rylan Thomas launched his 10th home run of the season, and the pitching staff combined for eight strikeouts to complete the season sweep of the Wildcats.
"It was good to get some guys some work today in a good win," head coach Greg Lovelady said. "We started out a little sluggish offensively, but we did a better job in those middle innings. It was good to see Max and Dalton do well at the plate, and get Sinclair and Hakanson some innings on the mound. It's good to get some momentum and confidence going as we head into a huge weekend with conference, RPI and War On I-4 implications."
UCF starting pitcher Jack Sinclair gave the Knights three solid innings to open the night. The rookie fanned two pair in his second start of the season. The defense helped Sinclair work around two walks with inning-ending double plays in the first and the second. UCF opened the scoring in the fourth. Following back-to-back walks to Matthew Mika and Griffin Bernardo, Max Wood drove in a run with a single to left. Dalton Wingo followed that up with an RBI single to the same spot during the next at-bat.
Bethune-Cookman cut the lead in half in the top of the fifth, but Thomas swung the momentum squarely back in UCF's favor in the bottom half of the frame. Dallas Beaver hit a leadoff double to left and Ray Alejo walked to put two on with no outs. Thomas then sent a 2-0 offering well beyond the wall in left to make it 5-1 in favor of the Knights. In the bottom of the eighth, Brandon Hernandez and Beaver tacked on a pair of insurance runs with back-to-back RBI singles.
KEY STATS
UCF (26-12) - 7, Bethune-Cookman (14-24) - 1
Winning pitcher: Jeffrey Hakanson (3-0)
Losing pitcher: Jordan Pinto (1-2)
Top performers: Jack Sinclair (3 IP, 2 K, 2 BB, 0 H), Rylan Thomas (1-5, 3 RBI, 1 HR), Max Wood (204, 1 RBI), Dallas Beaver (3-4, 1 RBI, 2 2B), Dalton Wingo (2-3, 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB)
PITCHING BY COMMITTEE
* The Knights used six different pitchers on Wednesday night.
* After Sinclair exited, Jeffrey Hakanson came on for 1 2/3 innings of work and struck out two.
* Eric Hepple got out of a bases-loaded jam with a strikeout to end the fifth.
* Luis Ferrer worked around a pair of hits in the sixth, before Garrett Westberg punched one in the eighth.
* Bryce Tucker closed out the game in the ninth with a strikeout and a walk.
THAT'LL BE EXTRA BASES
* The Knights tallied five extra-base hits on Wednesday night.
* Beaver notched a career-high two doubles.
* Tyler Osik and Wood accounted for the other two doubles.
* Thomas' home run was the 24th of his career, bringing him within one of the program's career top-10.
NOTABLES
* The Knights now hold an 81-17 advantage over the Wildcats.
* UCF recorded three double plays, matching their season high.
* Every member of the UCF order reached first on Wednesday night, as eight of the nine recorded a hit.
* Thomas pulled within one of Tyler Osik's team-leading 45 RBI this season.
* Thomas has now reached safely in 46 straight games.
* The Black and Gold outhit an opponent for the 25th time this season. The Knights are 22-3 when doing so.
* Hakanson became the sixth UCF pitcher to win three games this year.
UP NEXT
UCF will travel to Tampa for a weekend series against USF. The three-game set will be the baseball portion of the War On I-4.
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