Baseball Improves to 6-0 with a 4-2 Victory over BryantBaseball Improves to 6-0 with a 4-2 Victory over Bryant

Baseball Improves to 6-0 with a 4-2 Victory over Bryant

by James Warnick
Box Score

ORLANDO – Wiley Hartley and Kris Sosnowski combined to strike out 12 batters and Matt Prevesk delivered a two-run go-ahead double in the eighth inning to lead UCF baseball to a 4-2 victory over Bryant on Saturday night at John Euliano Park.

With the win, UCF moves to 6-0 on the young season and has clinched the series over the Bulldogs (1-3). The Knights will go for the series sweep on Sunday.

“It was another tight game that came down to a big late-game swing from Matty Prevesk, and he delivered,” head UCF coach Rich Wallace said. “Wiley Hartley and Sos (Kris Sosnowski) were both outstanding for us. That’s what two senior, captain pitchers look like on a Saturday night in this ballpark.”

With Bryant holding to an early 1-0 lead, Antonio Jimenez evened things up in the bottom of the third with a solo home run to left field. The homer marked Jimenez’s first as a Knight and the third of his career.

The Black and Gold then took a 2-1 advantage in fourth, as Andrew Sundean pulled a hard-hit solo homer down the leftfield line. The long ball was clocked at 109 MPH off the bat and marked Sundean’s first of the season and the 28th of his career.

The Bulldogs threatened in the top of the fifth by getting runners on the corners with two away, but the starter Hartley pitched out of it by drawing a check-swing 2-3 putout off the bat of Gavin Noriega to keep it a one run advantage.

With the Black and Gold holding to the 2-1 lead in the seventh, Bryant got a man into scoring position with two away. UCF reliever Kris Sosnowski then looked to have drawn an inning-ending popout, but the ball dropped, and Bryant’s Justin Hackett came in to score on the defensive miscue to tie the game.

In the last of the seventh, DeAmez Ross hit a one-out double and later moved over to third on a fly out. With Ross standing on third, Andrew Williamson drove a ball to deep right-center, but Bryant’s Gavin Greger made a nice catch up against the wall on the full sprit to keep the score tied.

Sosnowski continued to pitch well in relief for the Knights by striking out the side in order in the top of the eighth. With two outs and nobody on in the last of the eighth, UCF took advantage of back-to-back Bryant errors to put two runners on the base paths. The senior Prevesk then stepped to the plate and promptly delivered the go-ahead two-run double down the leftfield line to bring in both Edian Espinal and Kendrey Maduro to give the Knights the late lead.

After giving up a leadoff single in the top of the ninth, Sosnowski responded by striking out the next man he faced and finished things off by drawing a 5-4-3 double play to seal the victory.

Sosnowski earned the win in relief to move to 1-0 on the season. He struck out a career-high seven batters over a career-long 4.0 innings of work while giving up just one unearned run on two hits. The starter Hartley went 5.0 innings and allowed just one run on five hits while striking out five.

Offensively, Espinal led the Black and Gold by going 2-for-4 with a run scored in his first start in a UCF uniform. Jimenez and Sundean both hit out solo home runs on the evening for the Knights, while Prevesk drove in a pair of runs with his clutch two-run double in the eighth inning.

The 6-0 start marks the second straight season that the Knights have achieved the feat, as UCF opened the 2024 campaign with a 7-0 record.

The Knights and Bulldogs will close the weekend series on Sunday at 1 p.m. at John Euliano Park. Following Sunday’s finale, UCF will then conclude an eight-game homestand against Florida Atlantic on Tuesday at 6 p.m.