ORLANDO – AJ Nessler hit a two-run home run early and Lex Boedicker added a three-run shot late to help lead UCF baseball to a 10-3 midweek victory over Florida Gulf Coast on Tuesday night at John Euliano Park.
The win marks the Knights’ fourth in its last five games and moves the Black and Gold to 25-13 overall. UCF also improves to 9-1 in midweek contests on the year and 11-2 against in-state opponents with the victory.
“Some of our at-bats early were pretty good,” head UCF coach Rich Wallace said. “It was nice to see the guys put some things together, as we were able to steal a couple of bases and get a bunt down, and have Nessler execute followed by the big swing from Lex.”
The Knight pitching staff also had another good outing, as seven pitchers combined to give up just three runs on the evening. Tyler Nesbitt started and surrendered just one run on four hits over three-plus innings, while Spencer Bauer, Kyle Kramer, Kris Sosnowski, and Najer Victor followed by combining to toss four scoreless frames. Dominic Castellano and Chase Centala then came on over the final two innings to finish things off.
With FGCU holding to a 1-0 lead in the first, Nessler and Jack Zyska both reached via base on balls and Matt Prevesk drove them both home with a two-run double to left with two away in frame to give the Knights a 2-1 advantage.
UCF added a run in the third on a one-out RBI single to left from Zyska to make it 3-1. The Knights then tacked on three more runs in the fourth to take a 6-1 advantage. Following a Dylan King single, Nessler belted out his first home run for the Black and Gold with a two-run shot to left to make it 5-1. With Boedicker later on first after a two-out walk, Zyska drove him home with an RBI double down the leftfield line to give UCF a little breathing room. With Nessler’s round tripper, he becomes the 12th different Knight to hit a home run on the season.
“It felt awesome to get that one out of the way. It was good to take a team at-bat and have one get out of here,” Nessler said.
The Eagles threatened in the fifth by getting two runners aboard with one out, but the senior Kramer came on from the bullpen and managed to quickly escape the jam—as Dylan King threw out a would-be base stealer and Mikey Kluska made a diving catch on a hard-hit line drive to short to keep it a five-run advantage.
The Eagles managed to pick up a run in the eighth to pull within four at 6-2, but the UCF closer Centala managed to leave the bases full with an inning-ending strikeout.
With two Knights on base and one out in the last of the eighth, Nessler picked up his third RBI of the day with an RBI single to center and Boedicker followed with a no-doubt three-run home run to right to seal the victory.
Nessler led UCF at the plate in the ballgame by going 2-for-3 with two walks, four runs scored, and three runs batted in. Boedicker also drove in three runs with his eighth-inning three-run home run, while Zyska and Prevesk each recorded two hits as well as drove in a pair of runs. Jacbo Lojewski paced FGCU by going 1-for-5 with two RBIs.
The reliever Bauer picked up his first win in a UCF uniform on the mound to move to 1-1 on the year. The Eagles’ Jake Bunz was tagged with the loss to drop to 1-2.
With 10 more runs on Tuesday, UCF has now scored a total of 50 runs over its last three games.
After having a non-conference series last weekend, the Knights will return to Big 12 play this weekend when they welcome Cincinnati to town for a three-game set. The series will run Friday to Sunday (Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 6 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m.) and will cap an eight-game homestand for the Black and Gold.