TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – It came down to the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, a two-run lead and a herculean effort from Kyle Kemp for the UCF baseball team to knock off No. 14 Florida State on Tuesday night, 9-7.
“That is a huge win,” head coach Greg Lovelady said. “I’m proud of how the guys were able to compete tonight. We were so hot and cold with our pitching, but we were able to get out of jams. We forced them to leave the bases loaded three times. As bad as we were in the start of the count, the pitchers battled back. The offense was awesome. It’s the first time we’ve beat them since I’ve been here. I’m just really proud of how the guys battled all night.”
After a quiet first time through the order, the Knights took the lead in the top of the fourth. With Florida State leading 1-0, Tyler Osik singled through the left side to bring in Ray Alejo and tie the game. On the next at-bat, Matthew Mika notched an RBI double to left center to give UCF the lead.
The hosts regained the lead with two runs in the bottom of the fourth. UCF responded by hanging a six-spot in the next frame. Osik and Mika teamed up for back-to-back RBI knocks to send UCF back into the lead, before Alejo came in on a balk.
Dallas Beaver then launched a two-run double off the chain-link fence in right, plating Mika and Osik. Anthony George capped the inning with an RBI double down the left field line to make it 8-3.
The Seminoles battled back to plate a trio of runs in the bottom of the fifth, but Osik added an insurance run an inning later with a sacrifice fly to center field that allowed Griffin Bernardo, who hit a leadoff double, to come in from third.
While the offense did its damage, the pitching staff locked in for the final four frames. Garrett Westberg capped his outing with a scoreless sixth inning, before Jaylyn Whitehead fired back-to-back shut down frames in the seventh and eighth.
Kemp trotted out of the bullpen with a three-run cushion. After giving up a walk and single, the righty struck out the next batter, but the Seminoles pulled a run back after a pair of walks. With the tying run on second and the potential game-winning run on first, Kemp struck out the next to batters to close out the game.
UCF (15-6) – 9, #14 Florida State (14-5) – 7
Winning pitcher: Jack Sinclair (3-2)
Losing pitcher: Antonio Velez (2-1)
Save: Kyle Kemp (1)
Top hitters: Ray Alejo (2-4, 2 R, 1 SB), Tyler Osik (2-4, 3 RBI, 2 R), Matthew Mika (2-5, 2 RBI, 1 R), Dallas Beaver (1-4, 2 RBI, 1 R)
Top pitchers: Jaylyn Whitehead (2.0 IP, 4 K, 1 H), Kyle Kemp (1.0 IP, 3 K, 1 H, 1 ER)
O, MI
• Tyler Osik and Matthew Mika combined for a quartet hits and five RBI.
• The duo teamed up to plate the first four runs of the evening for the Knights.
• Osik extended his career-long hitting and on-base streaks to eight and 19 games, respectively.
• Mika notched the 53rd multi-hit game of his career.
LOCKING IT DOWN
• The Knights forced the Seminoles to strand 15 batters on base, the most by an opponent since 17 against UConn on April 18 last season.
• Whitehead set a new career high with four strikeouts in his two scoreless innings.
• After giving up his first earned run in 13 innings as a Knight, Kemp worked his way through the pressure-filled situation to earn his first save for the Black and Gold
NOTES
• The win was UCF’s first against the Seminoles since 2014.
• UCF did not draw a walk for the second game in a row.
• Tuesday night was the 15th game of the season that the Knights struck out at least 10 batters, finishing with 15.
• The Knights have three ranked wins against Power 6 opposition this season.
• UCF defeated Florida State and Florida in the same season for the first time since 2011.
UP NEXT
UCF has won five of its last six and will open American Athletic Conference play on Friday night at ECU. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. on the American Digital Network.
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