GREENVILLE, N.C.– The UCF baseball team (17-15, 1-5 AAC) was swept in the second weekend of American Athletic Conference play as the No. 12 ECU Pirates (24-8, 4-2 AAC) walked it off 3-2 in the 12th inning on Friday, April 7 at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
The Knights struck first in the contest, taking their first lead of the series on an RBI groundout from Tom Josten that scored John Rhys Plumlee.
Dom Stagliano pitched 4.1 scoreless innings for the Knights, giving up seven hits and stranding seven to work his way out of trouble. Stagliano ended the third inning with a bases-loaded strikeout, keeping the Knights in the game.
In the top of the sixth inning, Ben McCabe hit a solo home run to bring his total for the season to 12. This also marked the 42nd of his career, taking sole possession of third place all-time in UCF history, beating out Dustin Brisson's record of 41. His next home run will tie him for first place with Chris Duffy and Bobby Kiser's record of 43.
Ben Vespi entered the game in the bottom of the fifth in relief with one away and stranded three more, getting out of a jam.
The Pirates plated two in the seventh inning to even the score, both runs scoring by Knights errors.
Kyle Kramer came in the game clutch in the end of the seventh inning, stranding three and then going two scoreless innings to send the tie game into extra innings.
Play suspended for an hour and 20 minutes in the top of the tenth, and upon return Nick Vieira held the game down for 2.2 scoreless extra innings.
In the bottom of the 12th, ECU's catcher Justin Wilcoxin hit a perfectly placed single deep in centerfield with bases loaded to walk it off for the Pirates.
UP NEXT
The Knights travel to Stetson for a midweek matchup at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 11th. Then, UCF hosts conference foe Memphis for a three-game AAC weekend slate beginning at 5 p.m. on Friday, April 14. The series continues at 6 p.m. on Saturday and concludes 1 p.m. on Sunday.
