Baseball Homers Three Times to Take Series over South FloridaBaseball Homers Three Times to Take Series over South Florida

Baseball Homers Three Times to Take Series over South Florida

by James Warnick
Box Score

TAMPA, Fla. – The UCF baseball team hit out a trio of home runs and limited South Florida to just two runs on the day to claim the weekend series over rival USF with a 12-2 run-rule victory on Sunday afternoon at USF Baseball Stadium.

Dylan King, Edian Espinal and Lex Boedicker all homered on the day for the Knights (8-3) while Grant Siegel, Dominic Castellano and Kris Sosnowski combined to allow just two runs from the mound on the day. The win marked UCF’s second straight victory via the 10-run rule over the Bulls (6-5) in as many days.

“I thought we got it going early. Willy (Andrew Williamson) had a big hit with a runner in scoring position in the first and Siegel went out and pitched a clean inning. Then we had those two big home runs in the second inning, which included Espinal nearly hitting his halfway back to Orlando,” head UCF coach Rich Wallace said. “I’m just really proud of the offensive production up and down the lineup throughout the game.”

The Black and Gold struck first by manufacturing a run in the top of the first inning to jump out to a 1-0 advantage. DeAmez Ross led off the game with a single, Espinal moved him into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt and Andrew Williamson brought him home with an RBI single up the middle to put the Knights on the board.  

UCF then managed to hit out a pair of two-out home runs in the second to extend its lead to 4-0. With two outs and nobody on, King started things off by golfing a ball down the rightfield line for a solo shot for his second home run of the season. Following a two-out single from Ross, Espinal then pulled out his first home run in a Black and Gold uniform with a two-run home run to deep right field to make it 4-0. Espinal’s round tripper was listed as traveling 404 feet off the bat and marked UCF’s fifth of the series and Espinal’s first as a Knight.

The Bulls got a pair of runners into scoring position in the third and looked to get on the scoreboard, but the UCF starter Siegel managed to induce an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play to get out of it and strand the runners.

USF then managed to plate a pair of runners in the fourth thanks to a two-run double from Ryan Pruitt to cut the score in half and make it 4-2. The southpaw Castellano then entered on the mound for the Knights and struck out the first man he faced to strand a runner in scoring position and send it to the fifth.

The Black and Gold responded in the top of the fifth thanks to a three-run home run from Lex Boedicker to extend their lead. With Espinal and Williamson on the base paths following a respective walk and single, Boedicker delivered the big hit by banging a three-run homer off the scoreboard in right to make it 7-2. The round tripper traveled 405 feet and was clocked at 104 MPH off the bat.

After Castellano struck out a pair of Bulls looking in the bottom of the fifth, the UCF bats kept things going in the top of the sixth by adding two more runs. With two on and one out, Williamson brought in a run with an RBI double to left and Aris Rivera followed with his first run batted in as a Knight with an RBI single through the left side of the infield to extend the Black and Gold’s lead to 9-2.

The Knights then added three more runs in the seventh to make it 12-2. With two on and nobody out in the inning, the catcher King ripped a two-run triple down the rightfield line for his second extra-base hit of the afternoon. Espinal followed two batters later with an RBI single up the middle to give UCF the 10-run advantage.

Kris Sosnowski then returned on the mound for the last of the seventh and stranded a trio of Bulls on the basepaths to lock up the victory.

Six different Knights finished with multiple hits on the day. Williamson and Ross both recorded three hits, and Williamson led the way by going 3-for-4 with a double, two runs batted in and a run scored. Espinal, Rivera, King and Chase Krewson all added two hits apiece, while Espinal, King and Boedicker each drove in three runs. In all, UCF totaled 15 hits on the day. The Black and Gold outhit USF 28-11 as well as outscored their rivals 24-3 over the last two ballgames.

“This was a great response by our team over the last two days. Everybody brought good energy and was excited to get back out here and get a series win today,” said King.

Castellano earned the win in relief for the Black and Gold after tossing a pair of scoreless frames in which he struck out five of the seven batters he faced to move to 1-0. Sosnowski then followed by pitching an inning and a third of scoreless work to finish things off. In total, UCF surrendered just two runs on eight hits while striking out seven. USF’s Jack Nedrow was tagged with the loss to drop to 2-1.

The series victory marked UCF’s third straight series win over the Bulls. The Knights have also now claimed seven of the last 10 meetings between the two teams and have evened the all-time series at 84 games apiece after taking two of three this weekend.

The Knights will now return to Orlando to open on five-game homestand against No. 6 Florida on Tuesday at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Following Tuesday’s midweek against the Gators, UCF will welcome Monmouth to John Euliano Park for a three-game weekend series.

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