Baseball Falls in Extras to BYU, 8-7Baseball Falls in Extras to BYU, 8-7

Baseball Falls in Extras to BYU, 8-7

by James Warnick
Box Score

PROVO, Utah – The UCF baseball team rallied for five runs in the ninth to take 7-6 lead, but BYU won it in the 10th as the Cougars pulled out a 8-7 contest on a cold Friday afternoon at Miller Park.

Down to their final at-bat and trailing 6-2 entering the ninth inning, the Knights (14-4, 1-1 Big 12) would rally to score five runs to take a late lead. With two on and one out, Matt Prevesk came in to score on a wild pitch and Edian Espinal followed with an RBI single to right field to make it 6-4. Following an Andrew Wiliamson walk to load the bases with just one away, Andrew Sundean tied things up with a two-run single to right. Lex Boedicker immediately followed with a go-ahead RBI single to left to give the Knights a 7-6 advantage.

BYU (11-6, 1-1 Big 12) would respond, however, with a leadoff solo home run from Cooper Vest in the bottom of the ninth to tie things up. The Cougars then won it in the 10th on a walk-off RBI single from Luke Anderson.

With temperatures in the 30s on the afternoon, BYU evened the opening Big 12 series at a game apiece. The rubber match of the series is set for Saturday at 3 p.m. ET/1 p.m. MT.

The Cougars managed to break a scoreless tie in the last of the second via a two-run homer to right field from Keoni Painter to give Brigham Young an early 2-0 advantage.

UCF looked to respond in the third by loading the bases with two away, but BYU starter Jaden Harris induced an inning-ending groundout to keep it a 2-0 Cougar advantage.

BYU then tacked on three more runs in the fourth to extend their lead to 5-0. Harris had the big hit of the inning with a two-run single to right.

The Knights got on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth thanks to a pair of RBI doubles to make it a 5-2 contest. DeAmez Ross reached base with a one-out walk and Espinal continued to swing a hot bat by driving him all the way around from first with an RBI double to right-center. Following a two-out walk from Sundean, Boedicker delivered an RBI double to center field to pull the Black and Gold within three.

BYU added a run in the bottom of the fifth and looked for more, but UCF reliever Kevin Schoneboom came on and retired the first two batters he faced, which included an inning-ending strikeout to strand a pair of runners and keep it a 6-2 game.  

Schoneboom continued to pitch well in relief for UCF, as he struck out the side in the sixth and pitched around a double in the seventh to keep it a four-run game.

The game remained 6-2 BYU until the ninth.  

The setback snapped the Knights’ winning streak at eight games. The eight-game winning streak marked UCF’s longest in the Rich Wallace era and the program’s longest since 2018 when it won 13 straight.

Espinal led the Black and Gold offensively on the day by going 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two batted in. Sundean and Boedicker each tallied two hits and drove in two runs. Painter led BYU by going 3-for-3 with four RBIs.

Schoneboom led UCF on the mound on the afternoon by tossing a season-high 3.0 scoreless innings and striking out a season-best six batters. Russell Sandefer was tagged with the loss for UCF to drop to 1-1, while BYU’s Ashton Johnson earned the win to move to 1-0.

The Knights and Cougars will close the Big 12 opening series with the rubber match on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET/1 p.m. MT on ESPN+. Following Saturday's finale, UCF will return to the Sunshine State to face Stetson in midweek action on Tuesday in DeLand.