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No. 18 Texas Outlasts UCF to Take Sunday’s Finale, Series

by James Warnick
Box Score

ORLANDO – UCF tied it in the fifth and later pulled within a run in the seventh, but No. 18 Texas held on late to take Sunday’s series finale by a score of 10-7 to claim the Big 12 series.

The Knights dropped to 31-17 overall and 12-14 in Big 12 play with the setback, while the Longhorns improved to 32-20 overall and in third place in the league standings with a 17-10 conference mark. Texas is currently ranked 18th by Perfect Game and 25th by Baseball America.

“We had some really good at-bats there in the fifth inning to get us to 5-5. They then came back and scored, but we jumped right back in it again. Overall, we just didn’t have enough to get it done,” head UCF coach Rich Wallace said.  

Trailing 5-0 in the fifth, the Black and Gold offense got things going by tallying five runs on five hits to deadlock the score at 5-5. With Braden Calise and Mikey Kluska aboard after a walk and a single, Andrew Brait started the scoring with an RBI single. Matt Prevesk followed with a two-run single up the middle to for his fourth and five RBIs of the weekend. Following a Lex Boedicker single, Prevesk came in to score from second base on a wild pitch to pull the Knights within a run. With Boedicker on third base, Matt Cedarburg tied the game with a clutch two-out RBI single to center to cap the big inning for the Black and Gold.

Texas responded, however, with three runs of its own in top of the sixth to regain the lead at 8-5. Jared Thomas drove home the first run of the frame via a sacrifice fly and Peyton Powell followed with a two-run single.

UCF again countered in the seventh, as it got back-to-back-to-back baserunners to reach thanks to a Brait walk, Prevesk single, and Jack Zyska single to load the bases with nobody out. Boedicker made it 8-6 with an RBI fielder’s choice, and Cedarburg followed by driving in his second run of the game with an RBI single up the middle to make it 8-7. With runners on first and second and one away, Gage Boehm drew an inning-ending double play to send it to the eighth.

The Longhorns answered back in the top of the eighth with a pair of insurance runs to extend their lead to 10-7. UT closer Boehm retired the Knights order in the eighth and managed to pitch around a one-out single from Prevesk in the ninth to preserve the win for the Longhorns.

Prevesk led UCF at the plate by going 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two runs batted in, while the senior Cedarburg went 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs. Brait also had a nice performance by going 1-for-3 with two walks, two runs scored and a run batted in. Thomas paced Texas on the day by going 4-for-6 with two RBIs and two runs scored.

UCF used six different pitchers on the afternoon and Najer Victor was tagged with the loss after allowing just two runs on one hit over an inning and a third. Chase Centala, Spencer Bauer and Kyle Kramer all had solid outings on the day for the Knights. UT starter Lebarron Johnson Jr. took a no-hittter into the fifth inning but finished his day by giving up four runs over four-plus innings to take the no decision. UT reliever Charlie Hurley earned the win to move to 5-0 on the year while Boehm recorded his seventh save of the season.

The Longhorns got off to a strong start with a run in the first and three more in the second to jump out to an early 4-0 lead. Max Belyeu drove in the first run with a two-out RBI hit in the first and Rylan Galvan followed with a two-run homer in the second. Thomas capped the early spurt with an RBI double.

UCF reliever Centala came on and retired Texas in order in the third, but UT managed to tack on another run via a two-out RBI hit in the fourth to extend its lead to 5-0.

The Knight offense then managed to break through for the first time in the game off of the Big 12 Preseason Pitcher of the Year Johnson Jr. in the fifth inning.

By taking a game from the ranked Longhorns on the weekend, UCF has secured a spot to compete at the 2024 Phillps 66 Big 12 Championship that will run May 21-25 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. The bracket and seeding will be determined following next week’s final regular-season action.

The Knights will close their final homestand by hosting Bethune-Cookman on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in their final home game of the 2024 campaign. UCF will then return head to the Lone Star State for their final Big 12 series of the season at Baylor. The final series will run Thursday to Saturday, May 16-18, at Baylor Ballpark.