ORLANDO – The UCF baseball team (16-11, 0-2) dropped the series to rival South Florida (12-15, 2-0) on Saturday night at John Euliano Park. The Knights fell in their fifth-straight game, falling just one run short of a late comeback. The final score of the contest was 3-2.
Hunter Mink, USF's right-handed starter, got the win after a 6.1 inning performance allowing no runs on four hits, two walks and a hit by pitch.
The Bulls struck first as Drew Brutcher hit a two-run home run to left field in the third inning. USF added one more to their tally in the eighth on a sac fly that scored Daniel Cantu, who was on base after a double down the left field line.
The Knights answered in the bottom of the eighth with a Tom Josten long ball, the Knights' 50th home run of the year, which scored John Rhys Plumlee following a leadoff single. Both the Knights and Bulls left seven on base in the contest.
The Knights fell to 2-0 in conference play, looking to avoid the sweep in the series finale at 1 p.m. Sunday in John Euliano Park.
