BayCare Ballpark, Clearwater, Fla.- The No. 7 Memphis Tigers defeated the No. 2 UCF Knights in Round 1 of the AAC Baseball Tournament.
Memphis struck first in the top of the second inning when Chris Swanberg grounded into a double play, which scored Ian Bibilon.
Then, in the bottom of the third inning, UCF struck for the first time to take a 2-1 lead. This came courtesy of designated hitter Noah Orlando’s 7th home run of the season.
After Orlando’s two-run home run, Memphis received a spark, scoring three runs in both the fourth and fifth innings.
In the fourth inning, Memphis loaded the bases. That’s when Blake Daniels came up, hitting a bases-clearing triple down the right field line. This put the Tigers up 4-2.
In the fifth inning, Logan Kohler’s RBI single to left field brought home a runner. A few batters later, Taylor Howell reached on an error by UCF’s shortstop. Two runners scored, but they were unearned for UCF pitcher David Litchfield.
With Memphis up 7-2, UCF’s Gephry Pena hit an RBI single to center field in the bottom of the fifth inning to cut the Tigers’ lead to only four runs.
With UCF down four runs, the Knights knew that their pitching could not allow any more runners to cross the plate. UCF achieved just that, allowing no runs the rest of the game.
So, it was up to UCF’s offense, which surprisingly woke up in the final two innings.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Michael Brooks hit an RBI single to left field, making it a 7-4 ballgame.
The game got even closer when UCF had the bases loaded with no outs in the ninth inning. With the bases loaded, Ruiz scored on a wild pitch. Then, Orlando scored thanks to Gephry Pena’s RBI groundout.
UCF was down by one run with a runner on third in the bottom of the ninth inning. The only problem? UCF was down to their final out.
Unfortunately, Ben McCabe struck out swinging to capture Memphis’ 7-6 victory.
Ultimately, UCF’s comeback fell short. The Knights will now have limited rest; they will play the next day against the loser in the Wichita State/Houston matchup.
Meanwhile, Memphis will receive a well-deserved day off before they face the winner in the Wichita State/Houston matchup.
Greg Lovelady, UCF’s head baseball coach, had this to say regarding how UCF rallied in the ninth:
“I am proud of them. To come back and fight and score three runs in the last two innings and give us a chance… I thought it was great. I just wish we could have had tougher at bats in those last couple ones… I thought offensively we just didn’t do much in the middle innings. I wish we played the same way as we did in those last two innings. If we played all nine innings like that, it would have been nice.”
Check out our photos from the game: PHOTOS | Memphis @ UCF | AAC College Baseball Tournament | 5/24/22