Box Score
ROCK HILL, SC -- The hot bats of Central Florida were too much for the Eagles as the Knights outslugged the Winthrop baseball team 12-7 at windy Jay Bergman Field Saturday night.
In game two of a three-game weekend series in Orlando, the Eagles fell to UCF dropping Winthrop's record to 3-7 while the Knights improved to 6-4 on the season.
Winthrop fell behind 3-0 early in the ballgame but battled back in the fourth and eventually took the lead in the top half of the fifth when
TJ Olesczuk slapped a single through the left side scoring Cody Dolan from third.
Clay Altman followed by alertly scoring on a passed ball giving the Eagles a 4-3 lead.
The Knights answered by scoring nine unanswered runs highlighted by a pair of home runs by Jeramy Matos and James Vasquez that secured the victory for UCF.
The Eagles look to rebound against the Knights Sunday afternoon as the series wraps up with a 1 p.m. ballgame.
The Knights got on the board early when Chris Taladay singled, driving in JoMarcos Woods to take a 1-0 lead in the first inning. UCF added to its lead in the third when Austin Johnston shot a two-run double down the left field line scoring Taladay and Erik Hempe.
The Eagles fought back in the fourth scoring two runs on a couple of RBI singles by
Clay Altman and Kyle Edwards. The very next inning Winthrop capitalized on a couple of fielding miscues by the Knights and scored a pair of unearned runs to take a 4-3 lead.
However, the pivotal fifth inning would be won by UCF as the Knights pounded out five runs in the inning that included a three-run blast by Matos to take a 8-4 lead.
The Knights tacked on another run in the seventh on a RBI single by Hempe, but the dagger came in the eighth when Vasquez blasted a 3-2 pitch over the right field fence off freshman reliever Ryan Owens for a two-run home run to give UCF a 12-4 lead.
Winthrop continued to fight in the ninth as they rallied for three runs, however, the Eagles came up short.
“We played really well for five innings, but it's a nine-inning ballgame,” said head coach
Tom Riginos. “We are not playing bad, but we are not playing good enough.”
Tyler Klitsch (0-2) took the loss for the Eagles as he went four innings giving up five runs on seven hits and striking out two. Knight reliever Chris Matulis (1-0) collected the win pitching three scoreless innings and striking out six.
Olesczuk had a good day at plate as he went 3-for-4 with an RBI raising his season average to .296.
Winthrop and UCF take the field Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. in the final game of the series. Right-handers Joey Strain (0-1) and Tyler Martin (0-0) are scheduled to get the starts on the mound.
The game can be heard on the Winthrop Sports Network via www.winthropeagles.com.
