Baseball Suffers 3-2 Setback to JacksonvilleBaseball Suffers 3-2 Setback to Jacksonville

Baseball Suffers 3-2 Setback to Jacksonville

by James Warnick
Box Score

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A trio of unearned runs proved costly, as the UCF baseball team dropped a 3-2 contest to Jacksonville on Tuesday night at John Sessions Stadium.

Six Black and Gold pitchers combined to limit the Dolphins to just four hits on the evening. But UCF couldn’t overcome an early deficit, as it ended up dropping the tightly contested in-state contest by a run. The Knights fall to 17-7 on the year with the setback while JU improves to 13-11 with the victory.

The Black and Gold took advantage of a pair of JU errors in the top of the first to take a quick 1-0 lead. DeAmez Ross singled, moved to second on a groundout, and over to third when Andrew Williamson reached on an error. Williamson and Ross then pulled off a double steal with runners on the corners and one away to put the Black and Gold on the board.

The Dolphins bounced back by capitalizing on a trio of UCF defensive miscues in the bottom of the second to take a 3-1 advantage. With two runners on the base paths and two outs in the frame, Conner Spelman popped a ball into shallow left field that managed to drop in, and both runs came in to give JU the lead. Jacksonville then made it 3-1, as Spelman came home on another Black and Gold error. All three runs in the frame were unearned.

Both sides settled down on the mound from there, as it remained a 3-1 JU advantage until the fifth inning. In the top of the fifth, UCF managed to load the bases on a trio of consecutive singles from Matt Prevesk, Antonio Jimenez and Kendrey Maduro. Two batters later, Edian Espinal made it 3-2 with a sacrifice fly to left field to bring in Prevesk.

Reliever Camden Wicker put up zeros for the Knights in the middle innings, as he went a season-long 2.2 innings and allowed just one hit while striking out three. Carter Stanford followed with a nice outing as well, as he tossed an inning of scoreless and hitless relief.

The Knights threatened at the plate in the top of the eighth, as they got two men on the base paths. Williamson started the frame by working a leadoff walk. He later moved to second on a failed pickoff attempt with nobody out in the frame. Later with two away in the inning, Chase Krewson then worked a walk to put two runners on. But JU reliever Anthony Cordero managed to escape the jam with an inning-ending strikeout.

Spencer Bauer then kept it a one-run game by retiring the Dolphins in order in the bottom of the eighth, which included a pair of strikeouts.

The Black and Gold again looked to get something going in the ninth, as Kendrey Maduro doubled to right-center with one away to put the tying run in scoring position. With two outs, Edian Espinal worked a walk after a lengthy battle to put the go-ahead runner on first base. With Maduro on second and Espinal on first, JU’s Nick Anello then managed to finish off the ballgame, however, with a game-ending strikeout.

Jacksonville starter Aaron Zenus was credited with the win to move to 1-2 on the year. Despite not surrendering an earned run, UCF starter Grant Siegel was tagged with the loss to drop to 2-2. By closing things out in the ninth, JU’s Anello earned his seventh save on the season.

Maduro led the Knights offensively by going 2-for-3 with a double and a walk, while Ross went 1-for-4 with a run scored and Espinal drove in a run.

Despite dropping the Sunshine State contest, UCF still holds a 5-3 record on the year against in-state opponents.

The Knights will continue their current four-game road stretch with a Big 12 series at Cincinnati this weekend. The series will run Friday to Sunday at UC Baseball Stadium. Following this weekend’s series, UCF will return home to host Stetson next Tuesday before welcoming Kansas to John Euliano Park for a conference series next weekend (April 4-6).