ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – After clinching the annual War On I-4 title for Knight Nation over the weekend, the UCF baseball team will hit the road for seven out of its next eight games, starting Tuesday night with a 7 p.m. pitch at Jacksonville.
The Knights earned their first series win in the American Athletic Conference over the weekend, taking two of three against War On I-4 rival South Florida. The Black and Gold struck early with runs in the first inning of all three contests. After a 4-1 victory on Friday, the Knights held on for a 5-0 shutout of the Bulls in game two, despite a rain delay that forced the contest to be finished on Sunday morning.
Chris Williams earned his second Pitcher of the Week honor from The American. The righty dealt 6 1/3 innings with six strikeouts to improve to 3-2 on the season. Williams looked poised to run deeper into the game, before a weather delay put an end to his night. It marked his second Pitcher of the Week award of the season.
The redshirt senior has 33 strikeouts over 33 1/3 innings of work this season with just a pair of walks. The righty is second in the nation with a 16.5 strikeout-to-walk ratio and .54 walks per nine innings.
WEEK 8 NOTEBOOK
OVERALL: 20-12
THE AMERICAN: 3-6
NON-CONFERENCE: 17-6
THIS WEEK: 3-1
STREAK: L1
LAST WEEK'S GAMES
Tuesday at Stetson – W, 13-4 | Recap
Friday vs. USF – W, 4-1 | Recap
Saturday vs. USF – W, 5-0 | Recap
Sunday vs. USF – L, 6-3 | Recap
THIS WEEK'S GAMES
Tuesday, April 9 | 7 PM – at Jacksonville | Live Stats
Friday, April 12 | 6 PM – at Cincinnati | Live Stats | FM96.9/AM740 The Game | Watch
Saturday, April 13 | 4 PM – at Cincinnati | Live Stats | Listen on UCFKnights.com | Watch
Sunday, April 14 | Noon – at Cincinnati | Live Stats | FM96.9/AM740 The Game | Watch
A QUICK RECAP
* After a rough weekend against UConn, the offense turned it on for a season-high run total against Stetson in a 13-4 win.
* Grant Schuermann dealt 6 2/3 innings with one run against, as the Knights opened the War On I-4 with a win.
* Despite a 15-hour rain delay, the Knights blanked the Bulls 5-0 to clinch the War On I-4 all-sports title.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Chris Williams, RHP, rSr.
1 App, 1 GS, 6.1 IP, 6 K, 4 H, 0 BB, 0 R
• Worked through sixth career game without a walk in at least six innings pitched.
• Retired the side in five of six innings.
• Faced the minimum through three on 26 pitches.
• Third quality start on the year.
HITTER OF THE WEEK
Dallas Beaver, INF/C, Jr.
4 App, 4 GS, .500/.625/.667, 4 RBI, 2 2B
• Started week with 2-for-4 performance at Stetson with two RBI.
• Recorded at least two hits in three games.
• Drew four walks on the week.
TEAM NOTES
• Ray Alejo went 6-for-15 at the plate with three RBI, including a home run.
• Jeffrey Hakanson struck out 10 batters over 4 1/3 innings of work in three appearances.
• The pitching staff has recorded 10 quality starts this season, after a pair from Chris Williams and grant Schuermann this weekend.
• Kyle Kemp gave up an earned run for just the third time this season. He has a bullpen low 1.33 ERA over 15 appearances.
• Alejo moved up to 16th in the nation with 85 total bases and four triples.
• With six walks on the week, Matthew Mika now has 26 on the year, good for third in The American.
• The Knights put down four sacrifice bunts and are now 29th in the nation with 23.
• Ben McCabe launched his first home run and triple last week.
• Of the 11 runs allowed by the pitching staff last week, only seven were earned.
• Opponents hit just .190 off the pitching staff.
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).