ORLANDO, Fla. – The UCF baseball team fell to Liberty in the third and final game of the weekend series on Sunday, 3-2.
The Knights starting pitcher AJ Jones pitched well, going 6.0 innings, striking out a pair, and giving up two runs. Those two K's moved Jones into second place in the American Athletic Conference with 19 on the year.
The game was a scoreless pitcher's duel up until the fifth inning where the Flames (6-5) opened the scoring on a solo home run by Cam Locklear.
Gephry Peña would tie the game at one a piece in the next frame on a sacrifice fly that plated Tom Josten.
Peña had himself a day at the plate and on the base paths. He went 2-3 with an RBI and a run while also swiping three bases. He now has seven stolen bases this season which puts him in a four-way tie for first in the nation.
Liberty would re-take the lead in the top half of the sixth on a solo shot from Aaron Anderson. They'd tack on one more in the 8th to make it a 3-1 game.
The Knights (3-8) plated another run when Alex Freeland brought Peña home on a groundout. They'd threaten again in the 9th inning but failed to push across the tying run and fell 3-2.
Liberty (6-5) – 3, UCF (3-8) – 2
Winning Pitcher: Trey Gibson (1-2)
Losing Pitcher: AJ Jones (1-1)
Top Hitter: Gephry Pena (2-3, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 3 SB)
Top Pitcher: David Litchfield (3 IP, 2 K, 1 ER)
Key Stats
- The Knights are 1-4 in one-run games this season
- UCF now leads the all-time series 5-4.
- The Knights drew three walks which keeps them atop the AAC with 40
- Seven hits today move the Knights to third in the conference with 80
- Gephry Peña's on base streak is up to 15 straight games dating back to March 6th, 2020
ON DECK
The Knights have a four-game set against North Florida starting on Wednesday at 6:00 pm with a game in Jacksonville, followed by a home game at John Euliano Park on Friday at 6:00 pm. They will then return to Jacksonville on Saturday for a 5:00 pm start. The series will wrap up on Sunday at 2:00 pm with a return to Orlando.
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