NORMAN, Okla. – UCF dropped both ends of a Big 12 Conference opening doubleheader to Oklahoma on a cool and windy Saturday afternoon at L. Dale Mitchell Park in Norman.
After falling in a tightly contested opener, 4-3, the Knights (9-3, 0-2 Big 12) then dropped the night cap by a score of 11-3. The Black and Gold and Sooners (8-5, 2-0 Big 12) will close UCF’s inaugural Big 12 series on Sunday.
Game 1
With the Sooners holding to an early 1-0 advantage in the opener after picking up an unearned run in the second, senior Matt Cedarburg belted out a solo home run to right field to tie things up in the top of the third. The homer marked Cedarburg’s first hit of the year as he was making his first start in the contest.
With both starting pitchers having settled down and putting up zeros on the board through five, Matt Prevesk started the sixth for the Black and Gold with a leadoff double. He moved over to third on a passed ball and scored on an RBI groundout off the bat of Andrew Brait to give the Knights a 2-1 lead. UCF threatened for more in the frame as Andrew Sundean singled and Jack Zyska doubled, but OU starter Braden Davis pitched out of it with an inning-ending ground ball.
With UCF starter Ben Vespi having struck out five and looking strong on the mound, the Sooners managed to tie things up with an RBI single from Jackson Nicklaus in the bottom of the sixth. Kyle Kramer then came on and induced a 4-6-3 double play to keep the game all knotted up at 2-2.
The Knights then loaded the bases with nobody out in the seventh and Prevesk drove in Andrew Estrella with an RBI single to left to give the Black and Gold a 3-2 lead. OU reliever Malachi Witherspoon came on and retired the next three batters he faced, however, to keep it a one-run game.
Oklahoma countered back in the last of the seventh by manufacturing a run to tie the game at 3-3. Anthony Mackenzie singled and later scored in the frame on a sac fly to left off the bat of Jaxon Willits.
The Knights threatened in the eighth by getting two runners aboard with two away, but OU’s Malachi Witherspoon pitched out of it to keep the game deadlocked at 3-3. In the last of the eighth, Oklahoma’s Easton Carmichael worked a one-out walk and pinch runner Jason Walk stole second. He then moved to third on a groundout and scored the what proved to be the winning run on a UCF throwing miscue to give the Sooners a late 4-3 lead.
Brait reached with one away in the ninth by getting hit by a pitch and later moved to second on an OU failed pickoff attempt. Lex Boedicker then moved him to third on a groundout for the second out. With Sundean at the plate, OU closer Kyson Witherspoon got the Black and Gold slugger to fly out to right field to end the ballgame.
Cedarburg paced the Knights in the contest by going 3-for-4 with a home run, while Zyska went 2-for-3 and Prevesk 2-for-5. UCF reliever Wiley Hartley was tagged with the loss after surrendering an unearned run in the eighth to drop to 0-1. OU’s Malachi Witherspoon was credited with the win (1-1) while his brother Kyson Witherspoon earned his first save of the year.
Game 2
The Sooners loaded the bases in the first in the night cap and Michael Snyder delivered the big hit of the frame with a bases clearing triple to left center to give OU an early 3-0 advantage. Oklahoma then added a run in the second on a two-out RBI double from Bryce Madron to extend its lead to 4-0.
The Knights countered by loading the bases with one away in the third and Zyska drove in the first run of the frame with an RBI single to center. Danny Neri later got hit by a pitch to drive in Sundean from third and make it 4-2. OU’s Carson Atwood then came on and retired Andrew Estrella to end the threat.
OU responded with a run in the third and another in the fourth to extend its lead to 6-2.
UCF loaded the bases with two away in the fifth but couldn’t manage to push a run across as OU reliever Grant Stevens escaped the jam unscathed. The Sooners kept things going with another run in the last of the fifth and one more in the sixth to extend their lead to 8-2.
With one out and nobody on in the seventh, Sundean blasted out a big fly to right for his second home run of the season. The round tripper was a solo shot and brought the Knights to within five at 8-3.
OU added an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh and two more in the eighth on a two-run homer from Scott Mudler to cap the scoring at 11-3.
Boedicker paced the Knights offensively in the contest by going 2-for-4 with a walk while Sundean went 1-for-2 with a home run and two runs scored. Grant Stevens was credited with the win for OU in relief (2-0) while UCF starter Tyler Nesbitt was saddled with the loss (0-1).
On Deck
The opening Big 12 series for both squads will conclude on Sunday at noon CT/1 p.m. ET. Following the weekend, the Knights will return home to host Stetson on Wednesday, March 13, before welcoming Oklahoma State to John Euliano Park for the program’s inaugural Big 12 Conference home series next weekend.