Baseball Drops Opener to Baylor, 5-4Baseball Drops Opener to Baylor, 5-4

Baseball Drops Opener to Baylor, 5-4

by James Warnick
Box Score

ORLANDO – UCF baseball couldn’t hold on in the late innings, as Baylor scored three runs in the ninth to top the Knights 5-4 in the series opener on Thursday evening at John Euliano Park.

Down a run in the seventh inning, UCF rallied with two runs in the bottom of the seventh and another in the eighth to enter the final inning holding to a 4-2 advantage. The Bears responded, however, with a trio runs in the ninth to earn the series-opening victory.

The Knights fall to 28-25 overall and into 13th place in the Big 12 standings with an 8-20 conference clip. BU moves to 32-20 on the season and 12-16 in league play to secure a spot in next week’s Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship.

“Obviously that’s not what you want out there in the ninth inning. Baylor managed to get a seeing-eye single on a ground ball and we threw a ball that we probably shouldn’t have, and that’s the game,” head coach Rich Wallace said. “The difference in the game is the errors, the walks, and the hit batters.

“I thought our guys offensively really got in there and fought in the middle to the back end of the game, and scrapped and clawed to get us a lead. It’s a shame we couldn’t hold on to it.”

With Baylor holding to a 1-0 lead after a first-inning solo home run from Travis Sanders, the Bears threatened in the top of the third by getting two runners on with nobody out. Enzo Apodaca then ripped a ball down the first-base line, but UCF first baseman Lex Boedicker snagged it out of the air and stepped on first base for a double play. Camden Wicker then responded by striking out the next batter to escape the jam.

The Knights then tied things up in the last of the fourth on a two-out RBI double from Dylan King. Andrew Williamson led off the frame with a single. He moved to second on a sac bunt and over to third on a groundout. Following a walk by Antonio Jimenez, King then doubled off the wall in right to score Williamson.

BU countered back with an unearned run in the top of the fifth to regain the lead at 2-1. With Hunter Simmons on first base with two away, Cortlan Castle doubled to left and Simmons came in to score on a UCF defensive miscue.

With Dom Stagliano putting zeros on the board on the mound in relief, the Knight offense managed to rally in the bottom of the seventh to take the lead. Andrew Sundean started the inning with a single. Following a fielder’s choice from Jimenez, King drove a ball to the wall in center field that dropped in off the outstretched glove of BU centerfielder Ty Johnson and Jimenez came all the way around from first to score the tying run on the RBI double. After King moved to third on a flyout, Braden Calise then gave the Black and Gold the lead with an RBI single to make it 3-2 Knights.

After Stagliano and Dominic Castellano combined to pitch around a one-out hit in the top of the eighth, UCF then added an insurance run in the bottom of the inning to make it 4-2. Williamson had the big hit with a one-out triple to right field and Edian Espinal drove him in with a sacrifice fly.

In the top of the ninth, Baylor got two on with nobody out after drawing back-to-back walks. After a sac bunt moved both runners into scoring position, the Bears then picked up a run on an RBI groundout off the bat of Jack Little. With two outs and runners on the corners, Castle then hit a groundball to the left side of the infield that managed to get just in between both Calise and Jimenez for a hit to score the tying run. With the go ahead run on second base, BU’s Johnson then broke for third and stole the bag and managed to come home and score what proved to be the winning run on a UCF throwing error.

Baylor closer Gabe Craig then entered on the mound in the ninth and retired the Knights in order to earn the save.

Despite allowing three runs over 3.0 innings of work, BU reliever Lucas Davenport earned the win to move to 4-1. With the scoreless ninth, Craig earned his 10th save of the season. UCF’s Kris Sosnowski was tagged with the loss to drop to 3-4. The senior Stagliano had a strong performance for the Knights in relief by going 4.2 innings and allowing just one unearned run of three hits while striking out five.

Offensively, King led the way for the Black and Gold with two doubles and two runs batted in, while Calise had a game-high three hits and an RBI. Williamson and Sundean also finished with two hits apiece. Castle paced Baylor by going 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a walk.

With UCF vying for a spot in next week’s Big 12 Baseball Championship, the series will continue with a crucial game two on Friday at 6 p.m. The contest will mark Senior Knight for UCF, as 10 Black and Gold seniors will be honored prior to first pitch (approximately 5:40 p.m.). The series will then close on Saturday at 12 p.m. with the regular season finale for both teams.