ORLANDO, Fla. – Alex Freeland homered twice on Saturday evening, as the UCF Knights (13-10) fell to the Samford Bulldogs (12-8) 7-6 at John Euliano Park. Cylis Cox was pegged with the loss, allowing three runs on three hits in the fifth inning.
Samford opened the scoring in the first, scoring three runs to jump out to an early lead. UCF responded in the bottom of the first with a solo home run by Alex Freeland to right field. The Knights continued to chip away at the deficit in the second, as Ben Rushing singled to left field to score Michael Brooks from third.
In the fourth, the Knights tied the ballgame on a solo home run to right field by Tom Josten. Samford regained the lead in the top of the fifth, 6-3, before UCF scored a pair on a throwing error by the third basemen to score Andrew Sundean and Brooks. The Bulldogs tallied a much-needed insurance run in the top of the ninth to extend the lead to 7-5.
In the bottom of the ninth, Alex Freeland would hit his second home run of the night, this time a solo shot to center field off the scissor lift holding the broadcast cameras. Ben Vespi worked the final five innings of work on Sunday, allowing one run on three hits and tying his career-high in strikeouts with six on the night.
SCORING MOMENTS
TOP 1st | SAM 3 – UCF 0 | Samford opens the scoring in the first.
BOTTOM 1st | SAM 3 – UCF 1 | Alex Freeland hits a solo home run to right field.
BOTTOM 2nd | SAM 3 – UCF 2 | Ben Rushing singles to left field to score Michael Brooks from third.
BOTTOM 4th | SAM 3 – UCF 3 | Tom Josten hits a solo home run to right.
TOP 5th | SAM 6 – UCF 3 | Samford tallies three more runs to regain the lead.
BOTTOM 8th | SAM 6 – UCF 5 | Rushing reaches on an error by the third baseman, scoring Andrew Sundean and Brooks.
TOP 9th | SAM 7 – UCF 5 | Samford adds to their lead in the top of the ninth.
BOTTOM 9th | SAM 7 – UCF 6 | Alex Freeland hits his second solo home run to center field.
GAME NOTES
- Alex Freeland crushed two home runs on Saturday evening, finishing the game 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs.
- Three different Knights had a multi-hit game on Saturday, Tom Josten, Michael Brooks and Alex Freeland.
- Ben Vespi worked the final five innings of the game, allowing three hits and one run, while tying a career-high in strikeouts with six.
- Freeland added one stolen base on Saturday, bringing the season total to 54 on the year.
UP NEXT
UCF and Samford will play one final game on Sunday afternoon at John Euliano Park. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.