ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The UCF baseball team completed its two-game sweep of Yale on Wednesday night at John Euliano Park. The Knights scored eight runs on 10 hits, while issuing just one walk from the mound to win 8-1.
“That’s a big midweek sweep,” head coach Greg Lovelady said. “It’s a long stretch of games in a short period. I thought the guys did a great job. We made the adjustments we needed to make. Jaylyn gave us a great start, and the guys who followed pitched well. Offensively, we left some runs on the board, but we got the job done. All around, it was a great game. Now, we have to gear up for another tough series this weekend.”
Playing their fifth of a stretch of eight games in 10 days, the Knights needed an outing by the pitching staff that avoided taxing the bullpen. Jaylyn Whitehead gave the Black and Gold exactly what it needed.
The southpaw moved to 2-0 on the season with a career night. Whitehead tossed five shutout innings without allowing a run and struck out three. The Ocoee, Fla., native worked around a trio of hits and did not issue a free pass.
While Whitehead kept the Yale offense off the board, UCF took a four-run lead in three innings, thanks to a pair of runs in both the second and third.
With runners on first and second, Ben McCabe doubled to the gap in right center and brought in Griffin Bernardo. Adams Torres added to the lead during the next at-bat with a sacrifice fly to left center to plate Dalton Wingo.
An inning later, UCF showed off some patience at the plate. Bernardo and McCabe drew back-to-back two-out, bases loaded walks to give the Black and Gold a four-run advantage.
Torres drove in two more runs in the fifth inning. The sophomore roped a 1-0 delivery back up the middle to score Bernardo and Robertson from scoring position. Two batters later, Matthew Mika added an insurance run on a single to right center.
Whitehead made his exit with the 7-0 lead. Zack Hunsicker came on for two innings of relief work. The rookie struck out three in his third career appearance. He allowed just two runners on base, only one of whom reached second.
Liam Silvagnoli came in for the final two frames to close out the game. The junior fanned a career-high four. Silvagnoli was cool under pressure when the Bulldogs put two runners in scoring position with no outs in the ninth, only to strike out the next three batters.
UCF (12-5) – 8, Yale (3-9) – 1
Winning pitcher: Jaylyn Whitehead (2-0)
Losing pitcher: Justin Ager (0-1)
Top hitters: Matthew Mika (2-3, 1 RBI, 1 R, 2 BB), Dallas Beaver (2-5, 1 R), Adams Torres (1-3, 3 RBI, 1 R), Griffin Bernardo (1-3, 1 RBI, 2 R, 2 BB)
Top pitchers: Jaylyn Whitehead (5 IP, 3 K, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB), Zack Hunsicker (2 IP, 3 K, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB), Liam Silvagnoli, 2 IP, 4 K, 3 H, 1 ER)
JAYLYN JAMS
• Whitehead had it working on the mound, throwing 11 first-pitch strikes to the 16 batters he faced.
• The southpaw was efficient, as he faced the minimum through three and allowed just one runner into scoring position.
• He picked off a runner in the second and caught another runner stealing to end the third.
• Whitehead closed his performance out by retiring his last five batters.
MAKING THE MOST OF IT
• Adams Torres went 1-for-3 with a career-high three RBI in his first start of the year.
• Ben McCabe added his second extra base hit of the season, as well as his third extra base hit.
• After Yale broke up the shutout in the eighth, Jay Lyons lofted a pinch-hit RBI sac fly to deep left center, the first RBI of his career.
NOTES
• The Knights trail the all-time series against Yale 3-4-2.
• Tyler Osik increased his on-base steak to a career-long 15 games.
• UCF recorded its 12th game with at least 10 strikeouts.
• The Knights are now 52-2 when holding opponents to two runs or less under Greg Lovelady.
• Matthew Mika stole his team-leading ninth and 10th bases of the year. He is now tied with Alex Morales (93-95) for 10th in program history with 66.
• The Knights drew seven walks, tied for the second most this season.
• UCF issued just one walk, its fewest since May 18 against Tulane last year.
• The Knights used three pitchers on Wednesday to Yale’s eight.
UP NEXT
UCF will face VCU this weekend for a three-game series, starting Friday night at 6 p.m.
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