ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – Looking to bounce back from a tough weekend series, the UCF baseball team will hit the road for a midweek showdown at Stetson on Tuesday night. Marc Daniels will have the call of the 6:30 p.m. first pitch on FM96.9/AM740 The Game.
The Knights dropped two of three at home against UConn over the weekend at John Euliano Park. UCF saw its starters go at least seven innings deep in the first two games. Grant Schuermann dealt a complete game in the series opener to lead the Black and Gold to a 2-1 win. Chris Williams tossed seven innings with one run against, but the Black and Gold lost 3-1 in 11. On Sunday, the Knights dropped the rubber match.
UCF is going for the season sweep of Stetson. The two clubs met back on Feb. 19 for the first midweek contest of the year. Powered by a 2-for-3, four RBI performance by Ray Alejo, the Knights rolled to a 10-2 win. UCF holds a 73-48 series lead over the Hatters. The 121-game series is the second longest in program history, behind the War On I-4 rivalry.
UCF is 7-0 in midweek contests this season, including wins over No. 3 Florida and No. 14 Florida State. Tyler Osik, Matthew Mika, Ben McCabe and Ray Alejo are all hitting above .400 in midweeks with 22 combined RBI. The pitching staff has struck out 72 over the course of the seven games with a staff ERA of 3.63.
ON THE MOUND
Jordan Spicer will make his sixth start of the year and fourth in a midweek contest. The senior spun seven shutout innings against North Florida last week with a trio of strikeouts to improve to 2-0 on the year. Spicer has an overall ERA of 5.66 and a 4.79 ERA as a starter.
SCOUTING STETSON
• The Hatters are 12-15 on the season and 2-1 in ASun action after clinching their weekend series at North Alabama.
• Stetson is led offensively by Baylen Sparks and Jorge Arena, both with clips above .300. Arenas also boasts a team-best 20 RBI on the year.
• The pitching staff has a 4.16 ERA and a 2.03 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
UCF at Stetson | Tuesday, April 2, 6:30 PM | FM96.9/AM740 The Game
Jordan Spicer - RHP (2-0, 5.66 ERA) vs. Brett Neilan (1-2, 4.94 ERA)
CLICK HERE FOR FULL GAME NOTES
WEEK 6 NOTEBOOK
OVERALL: 17-11
THE AMERICAN: 1-5
NON-CONFERENCE: 16-6
THIS WEEK: 2-2
STREAK: L2
LAST WEEK'S GAMES
Wednesday vs. North Florida – W, 5-0 | Recap
Friday vs. UConn – W, 2-1 | Recap
Saturday vs. UConn – L, 3-1 | Recap
Sunday vs. UConn – L, 10-0 | Recap
THIS WEEK'S GAMES
Tuesday, April 2 – at Stetson | 6:30 PM | FM96.9/AM740 The Game
Friday, April 5 – vs. South Florida | 6 PM | FM96.9/AM740 The Game | UCFKnights.TV
Saturday, April 6 – vs. South Florida | 6 PM | FM96.9/AM740 The Game | UCFKnights.TV
Sunday, April 7 – vs. South Florida | 1 PM | FM96.9/AM740 The Game | UCFKnights.TV
A QUICK RECAP
* The Knights opened the week by posting their second shutout of the year in a 5-0 victory over North Florida.
* Grant Schuermann tossed the UCF’s first complete game of 2019 to lead the Knights to win 2-1.
* Despite seven solid innings from Chris Williams, the Knights could not clinch the series in a 3-1 loss.
* UCF was shutout for the first time this season on Sunday, 10-0
PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Grant Schuermann, rSr., LHP
1 App, 1 GS, 9 IP, 4 K, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB
• Tossed first complete game of the year.
• Matched career high with nine innings pitched.
• Completed six innings on 10 pitches or fewer.
• Dealt 21 first-pitch strikes against 29 batters faced.
TEAM NOTES
* Tyler Osik’s career long 24-game on-base streak came to an end over the weekend.
* Matthew Mika went 3-for-3 on stolen bases extend his team-leading total to 15.
* Mika moved up to sixth in program history with 71 career swipes, five shy of fifth.
* Kyle Kemp dropped his era to a bullpen-low 1.08 over 16 2/3 innings pitched with two scoreless innings on Saturday.
* Jeffrey Hakanson has 28 strikeouts on the season, one behind team leaders Grant Schuermann and Trevor Holloway, with a strikeout on Saturday.
* Brandon Hernandez went 3-for-7 on the week with a stolen bases and two sacrifice bunts.
* UCF homered twice during the week, both against North Florida, as Dallas Beaver took the team lead with six homers this season.
* UCF’s 1:59 game on Friday night was the shortest since a 1:55 outing against ECU on March 3/23/12.
* The last three complete games for UCF have all come during the annual series against UConn.
* The Knights turned four double plays during the week to take their season tally to 22.
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