ORLANDO, Fla. – Three UCF Knights (27-17) left the yard on Tuesday evening, downing North Florida (18-27) 8-5 at Harmon Field. Cameron Crain improved to 2-0 on the season, working four innings of no-hit baseball, striking out five.
The Knights opened the scoring in the second, when Ben McCabe hit his sixth home run of the season, a solo shot to dead center field. UCF added to the lead in the fourth, as Tom Josten hit a two-run home run to right field, extending the lead to 3-0.
In the fifth, Andrew Sundean continued to bang the ball around the yard, homering to left field for his fifth of the season. The three-run shot extended the Knights lead to 6-0 heading to the bottom half. UNF finally answered the call, stringing together their first hits of the night to cut the lead to 6-1.
In the top of the sixth, Josten drove in his third of the night, doubling to center field before being thrown out at third, scoring Trent Taylor from first. UCF took a 7-1 lead into the eighth inning, before UNF scored four runs to cut the lead to two.
Noah Orlando drove in a key run in the ninth, after Gephry Pena stole the Knights 87th base of the season. Orlando singled up the middle to extend the Knights lead to 8-5. William Saxton picked up his second save of the season, working the final inning, not allowing a hit.
SCORING MOMENTS
TOP 2nd | UNF 0 – UCF 1 | Ben McCabe homers to center field.
TOP 4th | UNF 0 – UCF 3 | Tom Josten hits a two-run home run to right field.
TOP 5th | UNF 0 – UCF 6 | Andrew Sundean hits a three-run home run to left field.
BOTTOM 5th | UNF 1 – UCF 6 | UNF gets on the board in the fifth.
TOP 6th | UNF 1 – UCF 7 | Tom Josten doubles to center field and is throw out trying to extend it into a triple, scoring Trent Taylor from first.
BOTTOM 8th | UNF 5 – UCF 7 | North Florida tacks on four runs to cut into the lead.
TOP 9th | UNF 5 – UCF 8 | Noah Orlando singles up the middle to score Pena from third.
GAME NOTES
- UCF was one home run away from a team home run cycle, hitting a solo, two-run and three-run shots.
- Cameron Crain started his fifth game this season, striking out five batters and working four innings of no-hit baseball. He improved to 2-0 on the season with the win.
- Trent Taylor stole second and third base in the eighth inning, bringing the Knights total to 86 on the season. Gephry Pena later stole a base in the ninth to bring the total to 87 on the year.
- Tom Josten finished the night 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a run scored.
- Noah Orlando had a 4-for-5 night, scoring a run and driving in a run in the ninth.
- Gephry Pena reached base four times, finishing the game 3-for-4 with two runs and a walk.
UP NEXT
UCF will continue the eight-game road trip with the second installment of the War on I4 this season. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in Tampa.