New Orleans, La. – Looking to bounce back on Saturday, the UCF baseball team picked up a win in the third game of the series, 6-4. With the victory, Greg Lovelady earns his 150th win as the head coach of the Knights, and the Black and Gold moves to 24-27 (14-13 AAC) on the year; even with Cincinnati in the fifth position in the American Athletic Conference standings.
The Tulane offense picked up where they left off on Friday, tagging Jack Sinclair for three runs on a pair of doubles and a single in the first inning. Sinclair settled in, in the second and went on to toss 7.1 total IP allowing just one more run in the contest to finish with 4 ER, 4 Ks, and 2 BBs.
With Jack Sinclair holding the Green Wave offense off the board, the Knights relied on the long ball to take the lead. Alex Freeland and Andrew Brait got the scoring going, with a pair of singles in the second as Brait picks up his eighth RBI of the year.
Ben McCabe picked up his 12th home run of the season, a two-run shot to even the game, 3-3 in the third inning. In the fifth, Josh Crouch slugged a two-run homer, his 10th of the year to give UCF a 5-3 lead.
Aviles added a solo home run for the Green Wave in the sixth, making the game a one-run contest. Not wanting to be left out of the long ball party, Jordan Rathbone picked up his own solo home run in the top of the seventh.
With the two-run advantage at 7-5, Billy McKay threw the final 1.2 IP to earn the save, his first of the year.
UCF (24-27, 14-13 AAC) – 6, Tulane (27-18, 16-6 AAC) – 4
Winning Pitcher: Jack Sinclair (W, 3-5)
Losing Pitcher: Donovan Benoit (L, 1-1)
Top Pitcher: Jack Sinclair (W, 7.1 IP, 4 ER, 4 R, 4 K)
Top Hitters: Jordan Rathbone (2-5, HR, RBI), Josh Crouch (1-3, HR, 2 RBI), Ben McCabe (1-4, HR, 2 RBI)
Notables
- UCF moves to 25-27 all-time against Tulane after Saturday's victory
- Greg Lovelady earns 150th career-win as the head coach of the UCF baseball team
- Three Knights homered in the contest, Ben McCabe, Josh Crouch, and Jordan Rathbone. It was the 17th multi-home run game for the Knights in 2021.
- Josh Crouch's 10th home run of the season makes him the third member of the UCF baseball team to reach double digits homers in 2021, joining Ben McCabe (12) and Jordan Rathbone (12)
- Jack Sinclair's 7.1 IP is the longest outing of his career, his previous long coming at East Carolina on April 24 where he tossed 7.0 in a 6-1 victory.
UP NEXT
The Knights will return to Greer Field at Turchin Stadium on Sunday looking to even the series with Tulane. First pitch for the series finale is set for 1 p.m. ET.
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