Baseball Falls in Series Opener to HoustonBaseball Falls in Series Opener to Houston

Baseball Falls in Series Opener to Houston

by James Warnick
Box Score

ORLANDO – The UCF baseball team found itself on the wrong end of a 7-5 contest to the University of Houston in game one of a three-game series on Friday night at John Euliano Park.

Entering the bottom of the ninth down a pair of runs, the Knights (16-5, 2-2 Big 12) loaded the bases with one away on singles from Braden Calise, Antonio Jimenez and DeAmez Ross. With the tying run on second base and the winning run on first, Houston’s (12-9, 1-3 Big 12) Antoine Jean finished off a five-inning save by striking out back-to-back hitters to end the ballgame.

“We talked about it before the game, that the ball in-play was going to be at a premium. We just didn’t do a good enough job with two strikes against their reliever in this one,” head UCF coach Rich Wallace said. "He (Antoine Jean) absolutely outcompeted us in the middle part of the game.”

The Black and Gold offense didn’t waste any time getting things going, as they pushed a run across in the first to take a 1-0 advantage. Following back-to-back hits from Ross and Edian Espinal, Andrew Williamson put the Knights on the scoreboard with a sacrifice fly to center field.

UCF then added three more runs in the second to make it 4-0. With runners on the corners and nobody out in the frame, Calise brought home Lex Boedicker with a squeeze bunt. Jimenez later followed with a two-out RBI triple down the rightfield line, and he came in to score in the frame on a balk call to give the Knights a four-run advantage.

The Black and Gold then added to their lead in the fifth to extend it to 5-0. Espinal led off the inning with a single. He stole second, moved to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch to give the Knights some early breathing room.

The Cougars countered back, however, with a run in the fourth and six more in the fifth to take a 7-5 advantage. Riley Jackson led off the six-run fifth with a solo home run and Malachi Lott delivered the big hit with a bases-clearing triple.

UCF’s Angelo Smith then came on in relief and pitched well, as he tossed 3.2 innings of scoreless relief. Smith struck out a season-high four batters and allowed just two hits and no runs over a season-long 3.2 innings. Fellow right-handed reliever Kevin Schoneboom then followed with a scoreless ninth, as the two didn’t allow a run over the final four-plus innings.

On the other side, Jean was very good in relief for the Cougars. The left-hander didn’t allow a hit off him until the ninth and finished with a game-high 11 strikeouts over 5.0 innings of work. He retired the side in order in the fifth and sixth innings and didn’t allow a base runner to advance into scoring position until the final inning. He then managed to finish off the five-inning save by getting consecutive strikeouts with the bases loaded to seal the victory for UH.

Houston reliever Chris Scinta was credited with the win to move to 1-0 while UCF’s Dominic Castellano was tagged with his first loss to drop to 5-1. The save marked Jean’s first of the year.

Jimenez led the Black and Gold offensively by going 2-for-4 with a triple, an RBI and a run scored, while Ross and Espinal each had two hits and scored a run apiece. Lott led UH by going 2-for-4 with 2-for-4 with a triple, three RBIs and two runs scored.  

The contest marked a Space Game for UCF, as the team donned its Canaveral Blue Space uniforms in honor of 3/21 day.

The Knights honored the 1995 UCF baseball team on the evening. The ’95 Knights reeled off a program-record 29-game winning streak, won the Trans America Athletic Conference Tournament and capped their season at the NCAA Atlantic Regional that season.

The Big 12 series will continue on Saturday at 6 p.m. with game two. The 2000, 2001 and 2002 UCF baseball teams will be honored prior to first pitch. The series will then conclude on Sunday at 1 p.m. Both games will be streamed live on ESPN+ as well as on the radio at FM 96.9 The Game.