ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The UCF baseball team made it a perfect Opening Weekend on Sunday afternoon at John Euliano Park, completing its sweep of Siena. The Knights rolled to a 7-1 win behind a five-hitter from the pitching staff with 12 strikeouts.
“It’s always good to get a sweep,” head coach Greg Lovelady said. "I challenged the guys to get greedy and go for the sweep. We got to put a lot of guys in the game, and a lot of arms pitched really well. Offensively, we got better. We started slow on Friday, but we picked it up. By the end of the weekend, I saw some really quality at-bats. We’re on the right track. We have a huge test against Stetson on Tuesday.”
In what became a common theme of the weekend, starting pitching provided quality outings. Sunday’s hurler Jordan Spicer impressed during five innings of shutout ball. The senior fanned five, while allowing just three hits and a pair of walks.
The Knights struck first in the second inning. Griffin Bernardo reached third after a leadoff infield single, and a pair of failed pickoff attempts. Dalton Wingo brought him home on a slow rolling RBI groundout to third.
UCF scored a run in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. Matthew Mika added to the lead in the fourth on an RBI single through the left side, plating Tyler Osik from second. Dallas Beaver made it 3-0 with a bases-loaded walk an inning later. In his debut for the Black and Gold, catcher Jordan Rathbone scored Mika on a single down the left field line.
The Knights tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the eighth. Brandon Hernandez ripped a base hit past the diving Siena third baseman. As the ball trickled into left field, Rathbone and Wingo sprinted home to extend the lead to 6-1. Two batters later, Dallas Beaver belted a sacrifice fly deep to center field to bring in Hernandez from third.
UCF – 7 (3-0), Siena 1 (0-3)
Winning Pitcher: Jordan Spicer (1-0)
Losing Pitcher: Dylan D’Anna (0-1)
Top Hitting: Dallas Beaver (0-1, 2 RBI), Matthew Mika (2-4, 1 RBI, 1 R), Dalton Wingo (2-4, 1 RBI, 1 R), Brandon Hernandez (1-3, 2 RBI, 1 R)
Top Pitchers: Jordan Spicer (5 IP, 5 K, 0 R, 2 H), Zack Helsel (2 IP, 4 K, 0 H), Liam Silvagnoli (1 IP, 3 K, 0 H)
TURNING TWO
UCF recorded a pair of double plays in the series finale. In the fourth, Brandon Hernandez stopped a hard hit ball in the hole and made the flip to Mika at second, before firing down to first in plenty of time. Following a pair of walks, relief pitcher Zack Helsel induced an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play to maintain the three-run lead at the time.
BULLPEN BULLIES
Helsel made his second appearance on Opening Weekend and his first under pressure. Entering with the bases loaded and no outs, Helsel needed just seven pitches to strike out the first two batters he faced. The sidewinder just missed on a full-count offering on the next at-bat, which led to Siena’s lone run of the game. Helsel responded to the blemish with a four-pitch punchout of the next hitter.
Liam Silvagnoli closed the game down in the ninth, striking out the side on 15 pitches in his debut as a Knight.
NOTES
• UCF is now 57-4 all-time against Siena.
• The sweep was the 18th Opening Weekend sweep in program history.
• The Knights are now 85-33-1 on Opening Weekend.
• Sophomores Dalton Wingo and Griffin Bernardo combined for six of UCF’s 14 RBI on the weekend.
• The pitching staff constantly attacked batters all weekend, finishing with 41 strikeouts and a staff ERA of 1.00.
UP NEXT
UCF continue its seven-game home stand to start the season when Stetson comes to John Euliano Park on Tuesday night for a 6 p.m. first pitch. The game will be streamed live on UCFKnights.TV.
GET THE APP
Never miss any UCF Knights news from your favorite team by downloading the free UCF Knights app right to your iOS or Android phone! The app provides personalized information for men's and women's teams, scores, schedules, loyalty programs and even breaking news.
FOLLOW THE KNIGHTS
Follow UCF Baseball on social media on Facebook (/UCF.Baseball), Twitter (UCF_Baseball) and Instagram (UCF.Baseball).