MANHATTAN, KS — The UCF baseball team rallied for six unanswered runs over the final three innings, but it wasn’t enough as Kansas State held on to take the series finale by a score of 8-6 on Sunday afternoon at Tointon Family Stadium.
Trailing 8-0, the Knights picked up solo home runs from Antonio Jimenez and Andrew Sundean in the seventh and eighth innings to make it 8-2. The Black and Gold then scored four runs in the ninth and had the tying runners in scoring position with two away when K-State’s James Guyette entered and recorded a game-ending strikeout to halt the comeback attempt.
Sundean led the Knights offensively by going 2-for-3 off the bench with a homer, double, two RBI and a run scored. Jimenez too had two extra-base hits as he finished 2-for-4 with a double, home run, two runs scored and an RBI. Kendrey Maduro also had a two-hit game by going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
UCF won the series opener on Friday by a score of 15-3 behind a 20-hit outburst, but K-State responded by winning the final two games to claim the series.
Seven of the Knights’ nine position players tallied multiple hits in the opener. Chase Krewson’s perfect 5-for-5 performance marked his first career five-hit game. He also drove in three runs and scored another. Aris Rivera’s four-hit outing marked his first four-hit contest at the NCAA Division I level. He also doubled, scored three runs and drove in two more. Jimenez homered, doubled and finished with a 2-for-6 performance with four RBI. Maduro, DeAmez Ross, Andrew Williamson and Braden Calise also had multiple hits.
The win snapped a four-game skid by UCF and was Kansas State's first home defeat of the season.
But the Wildcats answered on Saturday. The Knights got five solid innings from starter Russell Sandefer, but Kansas State scored three runs in the sixth inning and went on to take a 3-1 victory to even the series.
Calise led UCF offensively, going 2-for-3, while Jimenez went 1-for-3 with a double and a run scored and Lex Boedicker finished 1-for-4 with an RBI.
Up Next:
The Knights returned to Orlando to open a home stretch with eight of their next nine games at John Euliano Park. The stretch on Tuesday against Florida A&M and the Black and Gold will welcome No. 24 TCU to town for a series at 6 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and noon on Saturday. The games will be streamed on ESPN+ and will also be carried by FM 96.9 The Game on the radio. Live audio will be available by visiting UCFKnights.com and live stats can be followed at ucf.statbroadcast.com.
