Baseball Evens Series with 7-1 Victory over HoustonBaseball Evens Series with 7-1 Victory over Houston

Baseball Evens Series with 7-1 Victory over Houston

by James Warnick
Box Score

ORLANDO – Four pitchers combined to limit Houston to just one run and the UCF offense put the game away with five runs in the eighth inning to even the series with a 7-1 victory over the Cougars on Saturday night at John Euliano Park.

Holding to a 2-1 lead for the majority of the contest, the Knights (17-5, 3-2 Big 12) erupted for five runs in the bottom of the eighth to seal the victory. Dylan King drove in the first run of the inning via a groundout and DeAmez Ross followed with a two-out two-run single to make it 5-1. Edian Espinal added some insurance with a two-run double to extend the Black and Gold’s lead to 7-1.

Houston (12-10, 1-4 Big 12) tried to make things interesting in the ninth by loading the bases with two away, but Kevin Schoneboom came on and struck out the first man he faced on three pitches to lock up the victory.

“Dylan King battled to give us a little bit of separation, as we were off on contact. And those at-bats from DeAmez and Espinal were huge with two outs in the eighth inning,” head coach Rich Wallace said. Overall, it was nice to see the team hang in there and stick with it and come out on top of this one.”

With Houston holding to a 1-0 lead in the second inning, the Knights responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 2-1 lead. With Lex Boedicker and Braden Calise in scoring position and two away in the frame, Antonio Jimenez came through with a two-run single up the middle to give the Black and Gold the one-run advantage. The hit came just minutes removed from when Jimenez nailed a Cougar runner at the plate on a long 7-6-2 relay to take a UH run off the scoreboard.

Both sides pitchers settled down from there, as they put up zeros until the eighth inning. UCF starter Wiley Hartley faced the minimum in each of the third, fourth and fifth innings and the Knights’ staff didn’t give up another hit until the sixth. Houston threatened that inning, however, by getting runners on the corners after back-to-back hits with one away, but reliever Russell Sandefer drew an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play to keep it a one-run game.

UCF senior Alex Galvan then entered in relief and retired the side in order in the seventh and eighth innings to set up the Black and Gold’s big offensive inning in the last of the eighth. Galvan then returned in the ninth and was one out away from a three-inning save, but UH managed to load the bases with two away thanks to a trio of walks. UCF’s Schoneboom then came on and drew the game-ending strikeout.

Hartley was credited with the win to move to 4-0 on the year after allowing just one run on three hits while striking out five over 5.0 solid innings. Sandefer then pitched a scoreless sixth inning and Galvan and Schoneboom did not allow a hit off them over the final three innings while combining to strike out four batters. Houston starter Richie Roman was tagged with the loss to drop to 0-3 on the year after surrendering two runs on five hits.

Espinal led the Black and Gold at the plate by going 2-for-5 with a double and two runs batted in while Boedicker went 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Both Ross and Jimenez each drove in two runs for the Knights in the contest.   

Prior to the game, the 2000, 2001 and 2002 UCF baseball teams were honored on the field for their contributions to the program. Those teams won three straight regular-season conference championships, three consecutive NCAA Regional appearances, and back-to-back conference tournament titles (2001 and 2002). Head coach Rich Wallace was a member of each of those teams, as he played for the Black and Gold from 2000-2003.

The series will conclude on Sunday at 1 p.m. with the rubber match. Following Sunday’s finale, UCF will open a four-game road trip at Jacksonville on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Knights will then head to Cincinnati for a three-game Big 12 series against the Bearcats next weekend.