ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – It may not have been the prettiest win in program history, but the UCF baseball team showed poise and resilience to complete the season sweep of Bethune-Cookman on Tuesday night at John Euliano Park with a 6-5 win.
After a calamitous top of the second that saw the Knights surrender five unearned runs, the Black and Gold rallied late behind a five-run eighth to win the game.
“That was an ugly win,” head coach Greg Lovelady. “Thankfully there isn’t a spot for that in the win column. I’m proud of the guys for continuing to fight. Our pitching staff did a great job of staying composed after some awful defense early. The offense gave away a lot of outs early, but they continued to grind in that eighth inning. Ben McCabe came up with the big bases-clearing double. We need to play a lot better. We can’t play poorly and expect to win the game, but we were able to today.”
The Knights had their work cut out for them after the second. The Wildcats scored five runs, all unearned, on three hits and two errors.
UCF started to climb back in the third. After loaded the bases with no outs, Ben McCabe scored when Dallas Beaver rolled a grounder over to short.
Starter Jaylyn Whitehead shook off the rough second inning to retire the next seven in a row. The southpaw thankfully took a no-decision after five innings of work with a career-high four strikeouts. Whitehead scattered four hits and issued just one walk. All five of the runs he allowed came in the second and were unearned.
Zack Hunsicker was the first pitcher out of the bullpen for UCF. The freshman out of Missouri spun three scoreless innings with one strikeout to keep the gap at four.
Down to their last six outs, the Knights opened the eighth a pair of walks and a single by Tyler Osik. Brandon Hernandez took a five-pitch walk to cut the deficit down to three, before Chandler Robertson drove a pinch-hit RBI single to left.
Down by two with the bases loaded, rookie Ben McCabe powered the first pitch he saw through the howling wind to the wall in left center for a bases-clearing double to give the Black and Gold the lead for the first time all night.
The Black and Gold turned to Kyle Kemp to see the game out. The graduate transfer fired a scoreless ninth to earn his fourth save of the year.
UCF (30-19) – 6, Bethune-Cookman (16-36) – 5
Winning pitcher: Zack Hunsicker (2-1)
Losing pitcher: Seth Lovell (2-5)
Save: Kyle Kemp (4)
Top hitters: Tyler Osik (3-4, 1 R), Chandler Robertson (1-1, 1 RBI, 1 R), Ben McCabe (2-4, 3 RBI, 1 R)
Top pitchers: Jaylyn Whitehead (5 IP, 4 K, 4 H, 5 R, 0 ER), Zack Hunsicker (3 IP, 1 K, 2 H, 0 R), Kyle Kemp (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R)
ROOKIES’ ROLE
• Zack Hunsicker’s three innings of work was a career high.
• Ben McCabe totaled his first career multi-RBI outing.
• McCabe also caught a runner stealing for the fourth time this season.
NOTES
• UCF leads the all-time series 83-17 after the 100th meeting between the two clubs
• The Knights notched their 30th win of the year, making Greg Lovelady the first coach in program history to hit that total in each of his first three seasons.
• Jaylyn Whitehead recorded 17 first pitch strikes against 22 batters faced.
• Tyler Osik’s three hits marked his 17th multi-hit game of the year and 34th of his career.
• Matthew Mika and Ray Alejo both stole a base for their 27th and 15th swipes, respectively.
UP NEXT
UCF will wrap up the two-game week tomorrow night at Miami. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.
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).