UCF sweeps No. 8 Auburn
Knights baseball gets first road sweep of power-conference foe.
As it entered this season with so many unknowns, nobody really knew what to expect from the UCF baseball team.
If this past weekend is any indication, the Knights appear to be better than what anybody expected.
The Knights proved their mettle by traveling up to Auburn and sweeping the No. 8 Tigers in a three-game series.
The sweep was the program’s first on the road versus a power-conference opponent and its first at any venue against such an opponent since pulling the trick against Alabama in 2001. It also marked UCF’s first sweep of a ranked team since it wiped out the No. 8 Stetson Hatters that same year.
It is the first time Auburn has been swept at home by a nonconference opponent.
UCF baseball team confident talent, depth will offset inexperience
“That’s a huge weekend for our program,” UCF coach Greg Lovelady said following the series finale in a video posted to the team’s Twitter account.
The Knights (7-1) accented their victorious three-day stay with a 12-2 romp Sunday that featured a season-high 17 hits.
Second baseman Tom Josten opened the scoring with a two-run moonshot that
traveled over the bullpen in right field. A few batters later, left fielder Pablo Ruiz capped the Knights’ fiverun third inning with his own two-run homer. The freshman’s first collegiate home run was part of his four-hit afternoon. Right fielder Dalton Wingo and first baseman Nick Romano also recorded four hits.
That was plenty of support for left-handed pitcher Joe Sheridan, who allowed just one run during five innings. For Sheridan, who missed all of last season due to a shoulder injury, it was his first win since March 23, 2018.
“I’m really proud of Joe Sheridan for the last 21
months and what he’s gone through,” Lovelady said. “I know he was nervous last week with his first start. He just came out today, was able to control the tempo and offensively we were ready to go.”
Although the Knights’ offense led the way in the final game of the weekend, it was really their pitching that enabled them to clinch at least a series victory.
On Friday, right-handed pitcher Colton Gordon shut down a Tigers offense that came in averaging about 12 runs per game. He permitted one run over six innings during the 3-1 triumph and bested Auburn starter Tanner Burns, who is a probable first-round pick in this June’s MLB Draft.
“Colton Gordon had an unbelievable start,” Lovelady
said. “Came out of the gates and just set the tone for our entire team.”
Left fielder Jordan Rathbone picked up two hits and two RBIs in the opener, including a sixth-inning solo shot that gave UCF an insurance run. Closer Jeffrey Hakanson made the small margin stand up in the eighth inning by striking out right fielder Tyler Miller, who represented the goahead run.
Hakanson threw 28 pitches and got the final four outs to lock down Friday’s game. Despite the highstress outing, he was called upon the following night to preserve a 7-3 lead with the bases loaded and no one out in the bottom of the ninth.
The Tampa native was up for the challenge, inducing a pop-up before striking out
the next two batters.
“The kids never panicked. That’s just a sign of a great team and true toughness,” Lovelady said. “[Auburn] started gaining momentum there at the end and we never gave in. We never seemed like we were worried. Just mentally tough.”
Rathbone smashed his third homer of the year in the top of the fourth inning to quickly erase a 1-0 deficit and then added an RBI double in the sixth. Wingo helped the cause with two hits and two RBIs.
For the series, UCF outscored the Tigers 22-6. Wingo, Josten, Rathbone and Romano collectively batted .489 with 16 runs and 14 RBIs. Meanwhile, Knights pitchers held Auburn to a .208 batting average
as the Tigers (5-3) were swept at home by a non-conference opponent for the first time in their program’s 125-year history.
“We could have easily come out today and been happy with two out of three. That’s not what this team is about,” Lovelady said Sunday. “We thought we had to continue to prove how good of a team we are.”
What the Knights proved this weekend should land them among the top 25 when the latest college baseball polls are released Monday. They haven’t been ranked since the 2018 season.
Next up, UCF faces the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats (4-3) on Tuesday in Daytona Beach. First pitch from Jackie Robinson Stadium is scheduled for 7 p.m.