LAKELAND, Fla. – Zak Skinner delivered a clutch go-ahead two-run double in the bottom of the eighth inning to lead UCF baseball to a 6-5 come-from-behind victory over in-state foe Stetson on Wednesday night as part of the Tigertown Collegiate Classic at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland.
With the Knights trailing by a score of 5-3 in the eighth inning, DeAmez Ross and Jordan Lodise led off the frame with back-to-back singles. Andrew Williamson later worked a one-out walk to load the bases. John Smith III then followed with an RBI fielder’s choice to pull the Black and Gold within a run at 5-4. With two outs and runners on the corners, the senior catcher Skinner pulled a 1-2 pitch into the left field corner to score both Lodise and Smith III to give the Knights the late lead.
UCF closer Evan Jones then came on and retired three of the four batters he faced in the ninth inning to seal the victory.
The Knights, who have now won five games in a row, improved to 26-15 overall with the victory. The Hatters dropped to 18-26 with the setback.
“It was a mature, professional at-bat with two strikes from Skinner (in the eighth inning), and he delivered in a big spot,” head UCF coach Rich Wallace said. “He’s a really good hitter. It’s hard to do the things he’s doing offensively with the things that we are asking of him defensively back there at catcher for us every day. But he’s given us all that we thought he could and more with us toughness. And he continues to deliver in big moments.”
The Knights struck first with a run in the bottom of the first inning to take a quick 1-0 lead. Andrew Williamson started things off with a single and Skinner and Javier Crespo later followed with back-to-back one-out doubles to plate Williamson and give the Black and Gold the early advantage.
Stetson then responded with a solo home run from Yohann Dessureault in the second to tie things up at 1-1. The Hatters later added a run in the fourth to take a 2-1 lead and looked for more by loading the bases. But UCF reliever Max Murray entered and managed to escape the jam by drawing an inning-ending flyout.
The Hatters added a run in the top of the fifth to make it 3-1, but back answered UCF with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning to deadlock the score at 3-3. Austin Jacobs led off the frame with a single, and Skinner later drove him home with a two-out triple off the wall in center field. Crespo then immediately followed with an RBI double to left center to tie the game.
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Stetson bounced back with two runs of its own in the top of the sixth to regain a 5-3 advantage. With two on and two out, Jack Harley plated a run with an RBI single to center field. Following a pitching change, the Hatters then took advantage of a failed pickoff attempt to tack on an unearned run.
With Stetson still holding to the 5-3 lead in the last of the eighth, Skinner’s late heroics helped UCF earn the come-from-behind victory.
UCF starter Roman Kimball tied a season-high with four strikeouts over 3.2 innings of work. Reliever Anthony Lariz earned the win after tossing a scoreless eighth frame to improve to 4-0 on the season, while Jones earned his third save after pitching around a two-out hit in the ninth. Stetson’s Ethan Phillips was tagged with the loss to drop to 2-5 on the year. In all, a total of 12 pitchers saw action on the night.
Skinner led the way offensively by going 3-for-5 with two doubles, a triple, a run scored and a game-high three runs batted in. Crespo too had a three-hit night by going 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles and two RBIs. Lodise and Jacobs too had multiple hit outings by each going 2-for-4 in the ballgame. Dessureault paced Stetson with two hits, a home run, and two runs batted in.
With the win, the Black and Gold split the season series with the Hatters at one game apiece.
On Deck
The Knights will now return home for a key three-game Big 12 series against No. 19 Arizona State this weekend at John Euliano Park. The series will run Friday to Sunday with Friday and Saturday set for 6 p.m. and Sunday’s finale scheduled for 1 p.m. The series will be a showdown between two of the top three teams in Big 12 standings, as UCF and ASU will enter the weekend currently tied for second place with identical 14-7 conference records.
