No. 12 Knights fall short vs. No. 5 Hurricanes
The first time UCF’s baseball team played a nationally ranked team, the Knights made a statement, sweeping then-No. 8 Auburn.
The Knights had another opportunity to make another statement on Wednesday, this time against the No. 5 team in the country and an instate rival in Miami.
However, missed opportunities on the basepaths and cold bats at the plate early on derailed the No. 12 Knights as they lost to the Hurricanes 3-2 at John Euliano Park.
UCF (15-3) had its sixgame winning streak snapped in the process.
The first five innings of the contest consisted of the Knights trying to plate across a run against Miami starting pitcher Alex McFarlane. McFarlane’s command was spotty during his 3 2⁄3 innings of work hitting two batters and walking four, but UCF mustered only two hits off McFarlane and left seven runners on base the first five innings.
In the third inning, coach Greg Lovelady called for a double steal with no outs and runners on first and second. Gephry Pena was thrown out at third base and McFarlane was able to get out of the inning unscathed.
Miami (12-4) opened the scoring in the top of the first inning when Alex Toral ripped an RBI double down the left field line, scoring Adrian Del Castillo.
The Hurricanes extended their lead in the sixth inning when Raymond Gil stepped up to the plate. Facing reliever Jack Sinclair, Gil cranked a two-run home run to right field, giving Miami a 3-0 lead.
UCF pushed across a run in the seventh inning when Pena grounded into an RBI groundout and then Nick Romano had a bloop RBI single in the eighth inning to make it a one-run game, but the offense could not push across the tying run in the ninth.