Game 1
Scoreless in the third, Calise walked, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Mikey Kluska, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and scored the first run of the game on a sac fly to left off the bat of Matt Prevesk to give the Knights an early 1-0 lead.
After UCF starter Stagliano retired the side in order in the last of the third, the Black and Gold offense added another run in the fourth to take a 2-0 advantage. Lex Boedicker started the frame by reaching on a three-base error on the KU right fielder and Sundean quickly plated him with an RBI groundout to give the Knights the two-run lead.
Kansas then answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at 2-2. Michael Brooks had the big hit in the frame with a two-run double to center.
With the reliever Kramer on the mound, the UCF defense turned a 6-4-3 double play behind him in the fifth and a strike them out, throw them out double play to end the sixth to keep the game tied at 2-2.
Calise then led off the seventh with a hustle double. He later moved to third on a wild pitch, and Prevesk drove him home with an RBI single to center to give the Black and Gold a 3-2 lead. The Knights threatened for more in the frame with Prevesk on third and Lex Boedicker on first with two away, but KU reliever Tegan Cain drew an inning-ending groundout to keep things close.
In the eighth, Calise continued his hot day at the plate by driving in an insurance run to push the Knights’ lead to 4-2. Danny Neri led off the frame with a walk and pinch-runner Anthony Calabro stole second. With two away, Calise then drove Calabro home with a clutch two-out RBI single to left center.
The Jayhawks threatened in the eighth by getting the tying runners aboard, but the UCF defense recorded a pair of nice defensive plays—a nice play down the line at third by Andrew Brait and a 1-4 putout at second base on a hard-hit ball up the middle to strand the runners.
The Black and Gold then tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the ninth to put the game away. Prevesk and Jack Zyska started the frame with back-to-back singles and Sundean drove them both home with a two-run single to left with one away to extend UCF’s lead to 6-2.
Centala then recorded a 2.1-inning save by retiring three of the four batters he faced in the ninth for his five save of the season.
A trio of UCF pitchers limited the Jayhawks to just two runs in the contest. The starter Stagliano gave up two runs on five hits while striking out a pair over four-plus innings, while Kramer and Centala combined to toss five shutout innings. Kramer went 2.2 innings and allowed just one hit and no runs while striking out one to earn his third victory of the season (3-0), while Centala surrendered just one hit and no runs while striking out three over the final 2.1 innings to record the save.
Calise led the Knights at the plate by going a perfect 3-for-3 with a double, a walk, two runs scored and an RBI. Prevesk followed by going 2-for-4 with two RBIs, while Sundean went 1-for-3 with three runs batted in.
Game 2
The Knights continued right where they left off in the first game, as Zyska doubled with one away and Sundean drove him home with an RBI fielder’s choice to give the Black and Gold an early 1-0 lead. The Jayhawks quickly responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the first and looked for more with two men in scoring position with two away, but Prevesk managed to run down a fly ball in the leftfield corner to end the inning.
In his first weekend start, Hartley settled down from there as he put up zeros into the fifth inning. Still 1-1 in the top of the fifth, Calise started a one-out rally with a single and quickly stole second to get into scoring position. Mikey Kluska then gave the Knights a 2-1 lead by driving Calise home from second with an RBI single up the middle.
The Jayhawks had a runner aboard in the last of the sixth, but Hartley drew a 4-3 double play followed by a 4-3 groundout to get out of it. The Knights then added two more runs in the seventh to extend their advantage to 4-1. Zyska drove in Calise with a two-out RBI single through the left side and Sundean followed with his fifth RBI of the day by ripping a two-out RBI single through the right side of the infield.
The southpaw Castellano came on and retired all nine batters he faced to secure the victory and earn his first save of the season.
Calise again led the Black and Gold at the plate by going 3-for-3 with two runs scored, a double and a walk. He also stole two bases on the day. Zyska followed by going 3-for-5 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored, while Sundean added a pair of RBIs.
“He (Braden Calise) finds a way to always put the ball in play and he can run,” Wallace added. “He earned these starts and has earned himself some more.”
The series victory marked UCF’s first Big 12 Conference road series win in program history.
On Deck
The Knights will now return to the Sunshine State for a midweek game at Jacksonville on Tuesday, March 26 at 6 p.m. Following Tuesday’s contest, the Black and Gold will welcome Texas Tech to John Euliano Park for a three-game conference series Thursday to Saturday, March 28-30.
