ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) - Senior weekend offers veteran players one last opportunity to shine in front of their home crowd. On Friday, seniors Logan Heiser and Max Wood delivered with a pair of walk-off to lift the UCF baseball team to a doubleheader sweep of Tulane at John Euliano Park.
After rallying from a pair of deficits in the series opener, Heiser gave UCF (35-19, 13-10) a 7-6 victory with a RBI single in the 12th inning. With runners on second and third with no outs, Wood sent a sacrifice fly to deep right field for a 3-2 win over the Green Wave (24-31, 9-14).
"That's two huge wins for us today," head coach Greg Lovelady said. "I don't know if I've ever seen two walk-off wins in the same day before. I'm incredibly proud of the guys for pulling these two out. We did some good things, and battled from behind twice in the first game. Then, Heiser stepped up for the big walk-off. It was a great way to start off senior weekend for him."
"In the second game, Willy just threw a gem," Lovelady added. "We need to be better offensively, but they kept competing until the end. Beaver gave us a huge hit in the eighth, before Mika led off the ninth with the single. Max did a great job of putting the ball in play and doing his job. I'm proud of the guys. We still have some stuff to work on, but we did what we needed to in order to get these two games."
GAME 1
UCF faced an uphill battle for much of the opener, battling back from a pair of three-run deficits. Dalton Wingo matched his career high with 2-for-3 performance at the dish and added a pair of RBI. Brandon Hernandez stepped up with a pair of base knocks and two runs driven in to lead the way offensively.
Tulane opened with a trio of runs through the opening four innings. The Black and Gold bounced back with a trio of runs two innings later. Ray Alejo launched his first career home run, a solo shot, over the wall in left to lead off the sixth. Four batters later, Wood lifted a sac fly to center field to bring in Tyler Osik from third. Wingo drove in his first run of the game on a single up the middle with two outs to tie the game at 3-3.
Thad Ward came out of the bullpen for the Knights in the fifth and held Tulane off the board until the eighth, when the Green Wave took a three-run lead. Once again, UCF responded with three two-out runs. Wingo peppered a 1-0 delivery off the trees beyond the left center wall for a solo homer. Two batters later, Hernandez sent his first career homer, a two-run blast, into the visiting bullpen to even the score at 6-6.
UCF relievers JJ Montgomery and Bryce Tucker carried the Knights through the next four innings. Montgomery worked around a trio of hits to finish with one strikeout and no runs allowed. Tucker cruised on the mound with four punchouts over the 11th and 12th innings.
In the bottom of the 12th, Wood hit a leadoff single through the left side, before Wingo moved him to second with a sac bunt. Then, Heiser ripped a one-out double to right center on an 0-1 offering to give the Black and Gold the win.
KEY STATS
UCF - 7, Tulane - 6 (12)
Winning pitcher: Bryce Tucker (2-2)
Losing pitcher: Ben White (2-4)
Top performers: Bryce Tucker (2 IP, 4 K, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 R), Ray Alejo (2-5, 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 SB), Dalton Wingo (2-3, 2 RBI, 1 R), Brandon Hernandez (2-4, 2 RBI, 1 R), Logan Heiser (1-5, 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 2B)
THE HOME RUN CARD
* Ray Alejo and Brandon Hernandez both hit their first career home runs in the opener.
* UCF now has 13 games with multiple home runs and three three-homer contests this season
* For Wingo, he leads the freshman class with three home runs, along with Griffin Bernardo.
GAME 2
The Knights found themselves climbing back from an early deficit in the second game. Trevor Jensen put the Green Wave ahead with a solo homer in the top of the first.
In the bottom of the second, Matthew Mika drew a leadoff walk and stole second. Wood moved the UCF second baseman over to third with a sacrifice bunt. Wingo followed that up with a RBI sac fly to right to make it 1-1. Tulane sprang back into the lead with an RBI sacrifice fly of its own in the top of the third.
UCF starting pitcher Chris Williams shook off the early blows to toss an impressive gem. After the first inning, Tulane only managed one hit against the redshirt junior, which came in the third. Williams then retired the next 11 batters in order. The righty scattered a trio of base hit with seven strikeouts over eight innings of work, while surrendering just one earned run.
Dallas Beaver put the Knights on level terms in the eighth inning. The sophomore drove a single to left field to drive in Heiser from second. Jordan Spicer came on in relief for the top of the ninth to keep the game tied.
In the bottom of the ninth, Mika led off with a single through the left side. He later reached third on a wild pitch and infield bunt single by Osik. Wood then sent the sixth pitch of his at-bat to deep right field, giving Mika plenty of time to scamper home for the winning run.
KEY STATS
UCF - 3, Tulane - 2
Winning pitcher: Jordan Spicer (4-1)
Losing pitcher: Sam Bjorngjeld (1-3)
Top performers: Chris Williams (8 IP, 7 K, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB), Dallas Beaver (2-3, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 2B), Matthew Mika (1-3, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 SB), Max Wood (0-2, 1 RBI), Dalton Wingo (0-2, 1 RBI)
WILLY, WILLY
* Williams matched his career high in innings pitched, a mark he had reached four times previously.
* Friday was Williams' sixth quality start of the 2018 season.
* The three hits also matched a season low for an appearance with at least six innings.
DOUBLEHEADER NOTABLES
* The Knights now trail the Green Wave 23-22 in the all-time series.
* UCF is 7-1 in walk-off games this year.
* The Black and Gold improved to a perfect 6-0 in extra-inning contests in 2018.
* Head coach Greg Lovelady notched his 198th and 199th career wins.
* Dalton Wingo went 2-for-5 at the plate with three RBI between the two games.
* Dallas Beaver extended his career-long on-base streak to 18 games.
* Ray Alejo and Matthew Mika each stole a bag on Friday. They lead the team with 33 and 27 swipes, respectively.
UP NEXT
The Knights will wrap up the 2018 regular season on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. against the Green Wave. UCF will send Luis Ferrer to the mound, while Tulane will counter with Josh Bates.
Prior to the game, UCF will honor its five senior players in a pregame ceremony.
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