ORLANDO - Pitching and defense were the key elements for the third game of the weekend series between UCF and South Florida leading to a Sunday afternoon series win at John Euliano Park for the Black and Gold.
Three UCF (8-1) pitchers combined to allow just two hits on the day as the Knights pulled out a 1-0 pitcher’s duel to clinch the series. Opening up the ninth inning holding on to the 1-0 advantage, Chase Centala quickly struck out the Bulls’ Ben Rozenblum for the first out. Soon after, Centala then retired John Montes via groundout and after a lengthy battle with Joaquin Monque, the Black and Gold senior got Monque to foul out to Lex Boedicker at first to seal the victory and take the series two games to one.
Kyle Kramer earned his second win of the season after tossing an inning and two thirds of solid relief while Centala recorded his fourth save by not surrendering a hit or a run over the final 2.2 innings. Dom Stagliano started and gave up just one hit while striking out five over 4.2 innings.
“Our job today was to somehow find a way to play better baseball and control the running game, defend at a higher level and play UCF baseball,” head UCF coach Rich Wallace said. “It was kind of setup, we talked about how long Dom could go, to Kramer and Centala and figured out a way to get the job done.”
The Knights started off the game on a high note with Stagliano recording a strikeout to pitch out of a bases loaded jam at the top of the first. Stagliano set the momentum for the game, picking up two strikeouts in the first inning.
“The guys love playing behind him,” Wallace said about Stagliano. “He works so fast, he’s usually in the zone. The infielders, you can see how they enjoy playing behind him.”
Scoreless in the second inning, Andrew Estrella drove in the only run of the day, plating Andrew Sundean all the way from first with an RBI double down the leftfield line. With the Black and Gold now leading 1-0, Stagliano continued to dominate, picking up his fifth strikeout in just three innings. While on the mound, he didn’t allow a single run and only gave up one hit. In the third inning, he demonstrated his athleticism diving to catch a bunt to keep the Bulls off base.
Senior reliever Kramer then came on to defend the 1-0 lead over the next 1.2 innings. He did not allow a run and surrendered only one hit. Centala came in to relieve Kramer at the top of the seventh and immediately struck out South Florida’s Eric Snow and Sundean threw out Montes trying to steal third for a clutch strike them out, throw them out double play.
UCF got a runner aboard in the last of the seventh, as Danny Neri drew a one-out walk. But he was stranded in the frame as USF’s (5-5) Logan Bevis retired the next two batters he faced. Each team then got a runner on base in the eighth, but both sides again stranded the runners to send the game to the ninth.
“I mean, you’re playing USF,” Centala said. “It’s our biggest rival here. Being able to have the ball in a rubber match series, we knew Stags (Stagliano) was going to give us a great outing, which he did, and then I knew at some point I was going to have to step up there and come up big for the team.”
UCF will next head to Gainesville to face No. 4 Florida on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Condron Family Park. The Knights will then begin their inaugural Big 12 Conference season next weekend at Oklahoma (March 8-10).