STATESBORO, Ga. – David Litchfield pitched seven innings of four-hit baseball on Friday night in Statesboro, as the Knights defeated Georgia Southern 5-1 to improve to 5-0 on the year. Litchfield improves to 2-0 on the season, striking out four batters and allowing one run.
Georgia Southern opened the scoring in the first as Noah Ledford grounded out to shortstop to score Christian Avant. In the fifth, Gephry Pena would single to left field, scoring Lex Boedicker from third. Alex Freeland would ground out to first base to give UCF its first lead.
Gephry Pena struck again, singling to right field to score Trent Taylor. Nick Romano was hit by a pitch later in the inning with the bases loaded to extend the Knights lead to 4-1, before Ben McCabe flied out to right field to score Pena.
William Saxton entered the ballgame in the eighth and worked 1.1 innings in relief. He fanned two batters, before giving way to Ben Vespi in the ninth. Vespi recorded the final two outs, including striking out Corey Dowdell to end it.
SCORING MOMENTS
BOTTOM 1st | GS 1 – UCF 0 | Georgia Southern takes the lead in the first.
TOP 5th | GS 1 – UCF 2 | Gephry Pena singled to left field to score Lex Boedicker. Alex Freeland grounded out to score Riley Wash.
TOP 7th | GS 1 – UCF 5 | Gephry Pena singled to right field to score Trent Taylor. Nick Romano was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Ben McCabe flied out to center field to score Gephry Pena.
GAME NOTES
- David Litchfield worked a career-high seven innings on Friday, allowing four hits and striking out four batters.
- Gephry Pena finished the night 3-for-5, scoring a run and driving in two RBIs.
- Four different Knights drove a run in on Friday night in Statesboro.
- Riley Wash finished the night 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
UP NEXT
UCF and Georgia Southern will continue the three-game set on Saturday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. from J.I. Clements Stadium.