BOCA RATON — The UCF baseball team scored early and often and Grant Siegel went the distance on the mound to lead the Knights to a 17-2 run-rule victory over Florida Atlantic on Tuesday night at FAU Baseball Stadium.
The win marked the Black and Gold’s third straight and fourth in their last five games. The Knights move to 23-17 with the victory while FAU drops to 27-13 with the setback.
All nine Black and Gold starters recorded hits in the contest and DeAmez Ross led the way with three hits and a game-high five runs batted in. Siegel went a season-long seven innings on the mound and struck out a season-high seven batters on his way to improving to 4-2 on the season.
“It’s not easy to come down the day-of and get on the bus and do all the things we had to do. But we had a good BP, and the team was prepared to play, and it showed,” head coach Rich Wallace said. “It was great to get off to that 4-0 start and then Siegel went out and pitched the way that he did. We also defended at a high level. Overall, it was a really good night.”
The Knights got off to a quick start with four runs in the top of the first. With Antonio Jimenez and Andrew Williamson in scoring position following a single, walk and double steal, Andrew Sundean drove them both home with a two-run double. UCF later loaded the bases with two away and Braden Calise drove in two more runs with a two-run single to center.
FAU got a run back in the bottom of the first with a solo home run from John Schroeder, but the Black and Gold responded with another four-spot in the top of the third to extend their lead to 8-1. With two on and two out in the frame, Ross delivered a two-run single to right and Jimenez followed with a two-run single to center.
The UCF offense wasn’t done, plating six more runs, all with two outs, in the fourth inning to make it 14-1. With Lex Boedicker in scoring position, Kendrey Maduro drove him home with a double to left. After back-to-back walks, Ross then legged out an infield single to third base to drive in his third run of the game and Jimenez followed by working a bases loaded walk to make it 11-1. Williamson then helped the Knights break it open with a bases-clearing triple off the wall in right-center field.
With Siegel putting zeros up, the Black and Gold then added three more runs in the top of the seventh. Dylan King started the scoring with a two-out RBI single to bring in Chase Krewson. Ross then capped UCF’s scoring with a two-run single.
With the Black and Gold having reeled off 13 unanswered runs, the Owls picked up a run with two outs in the last of the seventh, but Siegel managed to retire the next man to end the ballgame via the run rule.
Siegel allowed two runs on five hits while striking out seven and walking just two. He retired the side in order in both the second and third innings and had a stretch in which he sat down nine straight hitters.
Behind Ross’ 3-for-6 and career-best five-RBI performance, Jimenez and Williamson each drove in three runs and Boedicker and Maduro both went 2-for-3 with three runs scored. The 17 runs for UCF tied for the second-most of the season.
Sauser tabbed BIG 12 Co-Pitcher of the Week
IRVING, Texas — Sophomore right-hander Matt Sauser was tabbed the Big 12 Co-Pitcher of the Week after going a career-long 8.0 innings while striking out a career-best eight batters en route to a 4-2 victory over No. 17 TCU last Saturday. In his first weekend start as a Knight, the Florida State transfer allowed just two runs on five hits while striking out the eight batters and not issuing a walk. He faced the minimum in six of his eight innings of work, which included a stretch in which he retired 14 straight batters. Over 104 total pitches, Sauser threw 77 for strikes.
Up Next:
The Knights were at John Euliano Park to open a weekend series with Big 12 Conference-leading and No. 10 ranked West Virginia on Friday. Game two is today (Saturday) at 6 p.m. and Game 3 is 1 p.m. on Sunday. The team will also be at home for North Florida on Tuesday at 6 p.m. The games will be streamed on ESPN+ and the West Virginia games will 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.
