Central Florida’s offensive war of attrition bested Florida’s scoring spurts on Wednesday night.
Brandon Hernandez’s go-ahead home run for UCF in the seventh inning was the deciding run in the Knights’ 12-9 victory over the No. 7 Gators in Gainesville. This was the third-consecutive win for UCF (6-2) over UF (6-4), and it was the sole meeting between the two teams this season.
The Knights led 9-8 heading into the ninth inning. They bagged three more runs on a wild pitch and an error by Jordan Butler and bold base running by Matthew Mika, who stole home.
Florida rallied from a 7-3 deficit in the fifth inning to take the lead. The Gators’ rally was punctuated by a Kirby McMullen pinch-hit grand slam with a full count and two outs. His first career home run put UF ahead 8-7, but the Knights responded quickly when Tyler Osik hit an RBI single to tie the game in the next inning.
Osik was a menace to the Florida pitching staff all night. He hit 3 for 5, scored twice and had two RBIs of his own.
Kendrick Calilao continued his hot streak with his second-RBI triple of the season in the first inning. He later scored on a Nelson Maldonado groundout that put the Gators ahead 3-0.
Central Florida logged seven runs on eight hits in four innings after being blanked in the first.
Both pitching staffs exhausted their bullpens.
Jaylyn Whitehead started for UCF and lasted just one inning after yielding the three-runs. Six pitchers followed Whitehead out of the bullpen. Garrett Westberg earned the win for UCF, coming in for the sixth inning and striking out two batters in 1.1 innings.
Florida’s starter, Ben Specht, also allowed three runs, but he went 3.0 innings. Five pitchers followed him. The pitching staff combined for a season-high 12 strikeouts, but yielded a season-high 14 hits.
“The bottom line is we got exposed on the mound with a lot of young pitchers,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said.
UF matched its season-high of nine runs on Wednesday, but strikeouts remain a point of concern at the plate. Florida struck out 11 times Wednesday night and Brady McConnell accounted for three of those. Granted, McConnell extended his hitting streak to six games against UCF, but the strikeout plague does not discriminate.
Cory Acton was one of three players who registered an at-bat and did not strike out. He ended the night hitting 1 for 1 with four walks. Acton also walked twice against Jacksonville and leads the team with nine walks on the year.
“I think the game is slowing down, and he’s starting to play like he’s capable,” O’Sullivan said.
Despite the Gators committing four errors, hitting two batters and allowing five stolen bases, they had an opportunity to take the lead in the bottom of the ninth. Maldonado scored when Blake Reese was hit by a pitch with bases loaded which brought Jacob Young to the plate with two outs. Young flew out to the center fielder to end the game, and the Knights’ celebration began.
“All in all, it just wasn’t a very clean game,” O’Sullivan said. “But unfortunately you’re gonna see these types of things when we have a young team. We started five freshmen and a freshman on the mound.”
Wil Dalton was absent from the lineup following an ejection in the third inning of the Jacksonville game for arguing balls and strikes. Young played in Dalton’s place and hit 2 for 6 with a run scored.
Follow Kyle Wood on Twitter @Kkylewood and contact him at kwood@alligator.org.
Jordan Butler had a wild pitch and a throwing error in the ninth inning, and the Gators fell 12-9 to the Knights on Wednesday night.
