MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The 16th-ranked UCF baseball team scored a run in the ninth and had the tying runners on base, but West Virginia’s Derek Clark managed to pitch out of it to record a 7-5 complete-game victory for WVU.
Down 7-4 entering the ninth inning, the Knights looked to rally as Lex Boedicker led off the frame with a walk and Jack Zyska reached on an error. Following back-to-back outs, Andrew Brait then made it 7-5 with a clutch two-out RBI single to right to bring in Boedicker. With Zyska on third and the tying run on first in Brait, pinch-hitter Keano Suarez hit a ball to the left side of the infield but WVU’s Brodie Kresser managed to get the out at second base to end the ballgame.
The first-place Mountaineers (21-13, 10-4 Big 12) clinched the weekend series with the victory. UCF (21-11, 8-9 Big 12) will look to salvage a game on the weekend in the series finale on Sunday.
The Black and Gold struck first with a pair of runs in the top of the third to jump out to a 2-0 lead. Brait singled and Mikey Kluska walked to put two runners on the base paths. With two outs and a pair of runners in scoring position, Brait scored from third on a wild pitch for the first run. Braden Calise then immediately followed with an RBI double down the leftfield line to give the Knights the early two-run advantage.
WVU countered back with a run of its own in the bottom of the third, but UCF starter Dom Stagliano did a nice job of limiting the damage by getting back-to-back outs to strand a pair of runners in scoring position.
In the top of the fourth, Zyska led off the inning by ripping a solo home run down the leftfield line on a 1-0 pitch to make it 3-1 Knights. The homer marked Zyska’s sixth of the season to tie him for the team lead.
The Mountaineers picked up an unearned run in the last of the fourth to again pull within a run took a 4-3 lead in the fifth thanks to solo home runs from the reigning Big 12 Player of the Year JJ Wetherholt and Reed Chumley.
WVU then tacked on two runs in the sixth on RBIs from Skylar King and Wetherholt to make it 6-3.
With one-out in the top of the seventh, senior outfielder Anthony Calabro belted out his first home run in a UCF uniform with a solo homer off the scoreboard to pull the Knights within 6-4. West Virginia responded one more time, however, with solo home run from Sam White in the last of the seventh to extend WVU’s lead to 7-4.
The reigning Big 12 Pitcher of the Week Clark then retired the Knights in order in the eighth, and managed to record his fourth consecutive complete-game outing by surviving UCF’s comeback attempt in the ninth.
The southpaw Clark allowed four earned runs (five total) on six hits while striking out 10 to move to 4-0 on the year. UCF starter Stagliano was tagged with the loss to move to 1-3. Tyler Nesbitt had a nice relief performance for the Black and Gold in the ballgame by tossing 2.0 scoreless innings down the stretch.
Brait led UCF at the plate in the game by going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Calabro, Calise and Zyska all also drove in runs for the Knights in the game. King paced WVU by going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored, while Wetherholt, White and Chumley all homered.
With inclement weather expected later in the day, Sunday’s series finale at WVU’s Wagener Field at Kendrick Family Ballpark has been moved up to a 12 p.m. start. Following Sunday's finale, the Black and Gold will return to John Euliano Park to open a nine-game homestand against North Florida on Tuesday.