ORLANDO, Fla. – In Friday's opening contest of the three-game set with Butler, two runs would be enough for the No. 14 Knights. The UCF baseball team relied on lights out pitching to defeat Butler in a 2-1 affair to move to 13-2 on the season.
Establishing himself as the Friday night starter, Colton Gordon toed the rubber for the fourth Friday in a row in 2020. Gordon received early run support thanks to Gephry Pena's speed on the basepaths as Pena singled, stole second, advanced on a Bulldog error and scored off of a Tom Josten groundball. With the lead, Gordon didn't give up a single hit until the fourth inning, when Butler tagged the lefty starter with an RBI double.
UCF was able to regain the lead in the seventh that got started with Josh Crouch doubling to right-centerfield. Trent Taylor entered the game to pinch run for the catcher, who came around to score on a Butler throwing error.
The bullpen came in and slammed the door of any hopes to come back by Butler, as Jack Sinclair and Jeff Hakanson teamed up to throw the final 2.1 innings of the game, striking out a combined three batters
Winning Pitcher: Colton Gordon (3-0)
Losing Pitcher: Greg Gilbert (3-2)
Top Pitchers: Colton Gordon (6.2 IP, 6 K, 1 R, W), Jeff Hakanson (1.0 IP, 2 K, SV)
Top Hitters: Gephry Pena (2-4, 1 R), Tom Josten (1 RBI)
Key Stats
- The Knights 13-2 record is the best mark to this point in the season since the 2015 campaign when UCF also started the season at 13-2.
- Colton Gordon leads all UCF starting pitchers with his third win of the year in four starts.
- Picking up his fifth save of the year, Jeff Hakanson solidified his first place standing in The American with the most saves.
- Hakanson struck out two of his three batters tonight and has struck out 17 of the 24 batters he's faced thus far.
- Head Coach Greg Lovelady brings his win total to 124 with the win, which matches his win total at Wright State.
ON DECK
The Knights continue their homestand this weekend with two more games against Butler on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday's game is set to begin at 6 p.m. and Sunday is a 1 p.m. first pitch.
DON'T MISS OUT
The UCF baseball team is in its fourth season under head coach Greg Lovelady and will welcome seven teams from the 2019 NCAA Tournament to John Euliano Park in 2020. Click here or call (407) 823-1000 for ticket information.
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