The UCF Knights lost to the No. 10 West Virginia Mountaineers 15-10 in a four and a half hour slugfest on Saturday night. This loss means that the Knights drop the series to the Mountaineers, despite having more hits than them in both contests.
“Nobody feels sorry for us,” UCF coach Rich Wallace said. “There’s nothing else to do except come together as a group, fight, and play better baseball. That’s all we can do.”
The contest saw 387 combined pitches from 14 pitchers, who gave up a total of 31 hits. UCF’s designated hitter, Andrew Sundean, went 3-for-5 with five RBIs, being a triple shy of the cycle. For West Virginia, second baseman Gavin Kelly drove home three runs of his own.
Game Summary
The game started off with a loud crack of the bat, as Mountaineers center fielder Skylar King hit a single into center on the opening pitch. Left fielder Kyle West followed up with a hit of his own, this time into right. Through two batters, West Virginia already surpassed their hit total from Friday night.
Sandefer then walked another batter, loading the bases. Kelly hit a ball that dropped in left center for a hit, scoring two runs. Grant Hussey then hit the first pitch he saw to the right field wall, collecting a double and scoring another run. A bunt and a sacrifice fly out followed, giving the Mountaineers a 5-0 lead after the top of the first.
In the bottom of the inning, UCF’s first two batters also reached base, with them both drawing walks. An Andrew Williamson single drove home the runner from second, scoring the Knights’ first run of the game. Sundean then smacked a ball over the left field fence for a three-run shot that brought them within one after a disaster top of the frame. West Virginia’s starting pitcher Gavin Van Kempen was pulled after recording just one out.
“We get the one run, and then Sundean hits the three run homer and it’s 5-4,” Wallace said. “Then, Sandefer goes out there, puts that behind him and pitches us into the middle of the game, which is really tough to do, especially for a young guy. He gave us a chance to win.”
The next two and a half innings featured only five baserunners, with the only threat to score coming with a runner on third for UCF in the bottom of the third. However, a groundout ended their chance to knot it up.
After going 2.2 innings, West Virginia’s reliever Ben McDougal was pulled and replaced by freshman Benjamin Hudson. Hudson’s outing was unproductive, as he gave up a double to Matt Prevesk to start the inning. DeAmez Ross bunted Prevesk over to third on a sac bunt, then Antonio Jimenez singled through the third baseline and delivered the game-tying RBI.
Sundean came up with two outs in the frame, delivering his second extra-base hit of the game, which allowed Jimenez to capture UCF’s first lead of the game. This knocked Hudson out of the game, being replaced by West Virginia’s fourth pitcher in as many innings.
“I’m so happy for [Sundean] man,” Jimenez said. “He comes to the field every day. He’s extremely hard working and for him to just slow the game down and do that for us really sets the tone.”
West Virginia’s offense showed signs of life in the top of the fifth after losing the lead in the previous inning. West had a leadoff single, which was the end of the night for Sandefer, who was replaced by Angelo Smith. Smith then gave up a hit on his first batter faced, putting two on with no outs. Back-to-back balls were hit into center, which advanced the runner to third and home for the tying run.
To start the bottom of the fifth, West Virginia went to the pen once more, with Reese Bassinger making his second appearance of the series. After a four-pitch walk put Dylan King on base, Prevesk grounded into a double play on a poorly-placed bunt.
This did not take out the spirit of the Knights, as Ross hit a double into right center to put another runner in scoring position. This was the end of Bassinger’s night, being replaced by the sixth pitcher in the game for West Virginia and the second in the inning. Jimenez was intentionally walked and Williamson was hit by a pitch to load the bases. In another crucial moment, Sundean came up to the plate and drew a walk, which sent Ross home for the lead again.
No runs were scored in the sixth inning with one runner reaching for both the Knights and Mountaineers. Both Chase Swain and King reached second on wild pitches, but neither team could bring them home.
Drama followed in the top of the seventh inning. After West hit a single, he was subbed out for utility man Armani Guzman. Guzman stole second on a close play at the bag. Then, Sam White grounded out to first and screamed at UCF’s pitcher Smith while running to the base. Smith chirped back at White, and tossed the ball to the mound after thinking the inning was over. This confusion allowed for Guzman to steal home on an error, tying the game at seven apiece. Smith was then pulled in favor of Kris Sosnowski, who secured the final out.
“I’ve never seen that in baseball in my life,” Wallace said. “It’s kind of hard to explain it. I’m still searching for words on that.”
https://twitter.com/WVUBaseball/status/1916296585199194246
The back and forth contest continued after the seventh inning stretch, where Ross and Jimenez both hit singles off of Chase Meyer. Meyer, the seventh pitcher for the Mountaineers, got Williamson to ground out, but Ross was still able to score on the play to take the lead 8-7.
Sosnowski allowed the first two batters to reach base, which took him out of the game, being replaced by Alex Galvan. Galvan walked the first batter he faced, then King hit a double down the third base line, putting two across the plate for the Mountaineers. This gave West Virginia their first lead since the fourth inning.
A sac bunt allowed another run to score, bringing the score to 10-8 with only one out and two men in scoring position. Another run scored on a ground ball, but the Knights were able to turn a 5-3-6 double play to end the inning down three runs.
The bottom of the eighth was do or die time for UCF. Edian Espinal was able to reach base on an error by West Virginia’s third baseman, and this started the rally for the Knights. King walked, putting two on with one out, and knocking Meyer out and putting Carson Estridge on the mound.
Prevesk hit a single, loading the bases. Then Ross walked on a full count to bring in a run. Jimenez flew out to right, allowing another run to score. Williamson grounded out to end the inning, but gave UCF a chance to comeback down one run entering the final inning.
West Virginia had other plans, as two men reached with one out in the frame. This took out Galvan, who was replaced by Kevin Schoneboom. The first batter Schoneboom faced knocked in a run, growing the lead back to two.
Then pinch runner Ben Lumsden came up to bat with two on and two outs. Lumsden, who was hitting under .100 coming into the game, smashed his first home run of the season to get the lead up to five runs.
This hole was too much to overcome for UCF. Despite collecting two hits off of Estridge, they were unable to score, ending the game on a grounder to short.
The Knights left 16 runners on base, while the Mountaineers only left four. With runners in scoring position, UCF went 8-for-25 at the plate while West Virginia went 6-for-12 in the same situation.
“There’s some situations where we did score, where there’s still just some meat left on the bone,” Wallace said. You’d like to see a bases-loaded clearing, something like they hit. That’s probably the difference in the game besides some of the mental mistakes.”
Next Up
The Knights will look to salvage the final game of the series against the Mountaineers on Sunday. Sauser is getting the call for UCF, who pitched eight innings last series against TCU.
“When the clock strikes midnight, it’s different,” Wallace said. ”It’s Sunday, we’re at home, it’s a really good team, you got an opportunity to come out and play your best baseball. Get yourself ready even more, then go do it.”
First pitch against the Mountaineers is set for 1:00 pm on Apr. 27.