DeLAND – Troy University used a seven-run eighth inning to erase a 7-2 deficit to shock No. 20 UCF 9-7 Friday night at the Atlantic Sun Tournament in DeLand. With the win, Troy advanced to the A-Sun Championship Game Saturday at 1 p.m. UCF will now wait for the NCAA Selection Show Monday at noon to see if the Golden Knights capture an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Troy left fielder Brad Sheffield led the way by going 4-for-4 as the Trojans belted 14 hits in the win. UCF, despite the loss, cranked out 17 hits but committed four errors in the two-run loss.
UCF scored first in the second as Drew Butera continued his torrid hitting in the A-Sun Tournament with a single to center, scoring Kevin Richmond, to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead. Butera recorded seven hits in his first eight at-bats in the A-Sun Tournament.
Clay Timpner added to the UCF lead with a two-out, RBI-single through the right side in the second for the Golden Knights’ second run of the contest.
Troy got one run back in the home half of the second. Brad Sheffield drove in the Trojans’ first run of the game with a single up the middle to cut the lead in half at 2-1. UCF avoided a big inning by the Trojans as Adam Godwin grounded into a double play with the bases loaded to end the TSU threat in the second.
Richmond came up with another two-out RBI for the Knights in the third as his two-out single scored Ryan Bono to put UCF in front 3-1.
Troy came back with one unearned run in the third when Wade Miller doubled down the right field line to score Chase Amis to close the lead to 3-2. Henry Guiterrez was thrown out on the play at the plate as UCF right fielder Drake Wade fired a bullet to gun down Guiterrez.
After three scoreless innings, UCF added four runs on five hits in the seventh to put the game out of reach. Matt Ray singled home Timpner to make the score 4-2 and Dee Brown followed later in the inning with a single to center, scoring Ray, to pad the lead to 5-2. Pinch hitter Matt LaFleur continued the big inning with a single to center, scoring Brown, to give the Knights a 6-2 lead. Butera added the final blow with a RBI-groundout to extend the lead to 7-2.
Troy put together seven hits to score seven runs in the eighth to take the lead for good at 9-7. Troy All-American closer Nate Moore pitched the game’s final 1.2 innings for his ninth win of the year.
UCF starter Mike Billek pitched an excellent game for the Golden Knights. Billek allowed just one earned run entering the eighth inning before running out of gas. The sophomore pitched a career-best 7.1 innings with six strikeouts.
Seven UCF players recorded multi-hit games including Timpner (3-for-5), Ray (2-for-5), Brown (2-for-5) and Bono (2-for-5). The first four hitters in the UCF lineup when a combined 9-for-20 with five runs, three RBI and three stolen bases.
Game Notes: Clay Timpner’s three hits improve his season total to 90, seventh in UCF single-season history … Timpner stole his 41st and 42nd base of the year to move into fourth in UCF single-season history … Dee Brown drove in his 63rd RBI of the year to move into a tie for 10th in single-season history … UCF is 21-4 on the year when its starting pitcher worked 6+ innings.
