ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The UCF baseball team could not clinch its weekend series with Oklahoma on Saturday at John Euliano Park. Despite a two-RBI performance from Dallas Beaver, the Knights could not climb back from a seven-run deficit, falling 7-3 to set up a rubber match at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
The Knights fell behind early as the Sooners plated a trio of runs in the first inning with a three-run home run by center fielder Kyler Murray. The visitors tacked on a run in the fourth on a UCF error with two outs. An inning later, Oklahoma extended the advantage to 7-0 with three runs on three consecutive at-bats.
The Black and Gold cut into the lead in the fifth. Griffin Bernardo and Dalton Wingo reached on back-to-back at-bats with a single and walk, respectively. With two outs, Beaver lofted a single to right center field to drive the two runners and shave the deficit to five.
UCF continued to battle, and eventually, brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth. Max Wood and Adams Torres notched base knocks in consecutive at-bats, before Brandon Hernandez took a pitch off the back. Brody Wofford drew a four-pitch walk with the bases loaded to make it 7-3. Before the Knights could close gap even more, the Black and Gold hit into a game-ending double play.
After the Sooners took the 7-2 lead through five innings, the UCF bullpen allowed just one hit the rest of the way. Luis Ferrer fanned a pair in two innings of work and faced one runner on base due to an error. Jefferey Hakanson and Garrett Westberg each struck out a pair when worked through the eighth and ninth innings, respectively.
KEY STATS
UCF (33-18) – 3, No. 26 Oklahoma (31-19) – 7
Winning pitcher: Devon Perez (5-3)
Losing pitcher: Chris Williams (4-2)
Top performers: Luis Ferrer (2 IP, 2 K, 0 H, 0 R), Garrett Westberg (1 IP, 2 K, 0 H, 0 ER), Dallas Beaver (1-4, 2 RBI, 1 BB)
NOTABLES
• Oklahoma evened the all-time series up at 3-3.
• Ray Alejo notched his 19th multi-hit game of the year.
• Dallas Beaver drove in multiple RBI for the eighth time this season.
• With 514 strikeouts, the Knights have their fifth 500-strikeout season in program history.
• The Black and Gold has issued two walks or fewer in 20 games in 2018.
UP NEXT
The Knights and the Sooners will wrap up their weekend series on Sunday at 11 a.m. Joe Sheridan will take the mound for the Black and Gold against Oklahoma's Nathan Wiles. First pitch was moved up due to rain in the forecast.
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