Florida Gators
6-4
UCF
6-3
Gators Fall in Marathon Game to UCF
Wednesday, February 27, 2019 | Baseball
Florida got on the scoreboard first with a two-run triple by Kendrick Calilao that plated Brady McConnell and Jacob Young in the opening inning. A batter later, a ground out by Nelson Maldonado brought Calilao home to give the Gators a 3-0 lead.
The Knights responded in the second with a RBI single by Dalton Wingo and back-to-back runs by Chandler Robertson and Ray Alejo in the third inning, evening things up 3-3.
UCF then took a 4-3 lead early in the fourth thanks to an unearned run by Brandon Hernandez. Later in the fifth, a double-RBI single by UCF's Matthew Mika and an unearned run by Wingo expanded the Knights lead 6-3.
Florida entered the fifth inning looking to steal momentum back. A sac fly to left field by Jud Fabian brought in Austin Langworthy. With the bases loaded, pinch hitter Kirby McMullen connected on a grand slam, the first home run of his career, to give Florida an 8-7 lead.
The lead didn't last long however, as UCF tied the game on a RBI single by Osik in the sixth. A home run by Hernandez in the seventh allowed the Knights to retake the lead 9-8. With three more runs in the ninth UCF secured the 12-9 victory over the Gators.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Kirby McMullen – A junior from Ocala, McMullen recorded his first career home run with a pinch-hit grand slam that gave Florida an 8-7 lead in the fifth inning. With McMullen's grand slam, and a run by Austin Langworthy, Florida recorded five runs in the fifth, the most in one inning this season.
FROM THE COACH: Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan – On tonight's performance--"We played three really good consecutive games in a row on Saturday and Sunday, and then obviously last night up in JU. The bottom line is we got exposed on the mound with a lot of our young pitchers. A lot had to do with [UCF's] older, experienced, physical lineup and we've got to do a better job holding the runners and that type of thing. It's just one of those nights, but we'll learn from it and get better from it. We've had a lot of bright spots with a lot these freshmen—it just kind of—everything bottled up in one game."
Bright Spots — "I think one of the bright spots, to be honest with you is Jacob Young (2-for-6) … he had a really good at-bat at the end of the game there against their closer. And then, obviously Kirby McMullen with the grand slam was a bright spot, and I thought Kris Armstrong came in and did a nice job at the end there—obviously we gave them those two runs when we went to the bullpen with Jordan [Butler], but I don't think it was Jordan's fault. It's just a couple of mistakes we made behind the plate."
STANDOUT STAT: 9 – Freshman Cory Acton has reached base nine plate appearances in a row going back to Tuesday night's game at Jacksonville. In that span he has three singles and six walks.
UP NEXT: This weekend, Florida will host the Winthrop Eagles in a three-game series at McKethan Stadium. First pitch is at 6:30 p.m. on Friday and 4 p.m. on Saturday. The series finale begins at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Westberg, Garrett (1-0)
L: McMullen, Hunter (0-2)
S: Hakanson, Jeffrey (1)
Batting:
2B: Alejo, Ray 1 ; Osik, Tyler 1 ; Hernandez, Brandon 1 ; Robertson, Chandler 1
HR: Hernandez, Brandon 1
RBI: Beaver, Dallas 1 ; Osik, Tyler 2 ; Wingo, Dalton 1 ; Mika, Matthew 2 ; Hernandez, Brandon 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Alejo, Ray 2 ; Osik, Tyler 2 ; Bernardo, Griffin 2 ; Wingo, Dalton 1 ; Mika, Matthew 1 ; Hernandez, Brandon 3 ; Robertson, Chandler 1
SB: Alejo, Ray 1 ; Wingo, Dalton 1 ; Mika, Matthew 2 ; Hernandez, Brandon 1
CS: Rathbone, Jordan 1
HBP: Beaver, Dallas 1 ; Bernardo, Griffin 1
Batting:
2B: Maldonado, Nelson 1
3B: Calilao, Kendrick 1
HR: McMullen, Kirby 1
RBI: Calilao, Kendrick 2 ; Maldonado, Nelson 1 ; Fabian, Jud 1 ; McMullen, Kirby 4 ; Reese, Blake 1
SH: Langworthy, Austin 1 ; Fabian, Jud 1
SF: Fabian, Jud 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Young, Jacob 1 ; McConnell, Brady 1 ; Langworthy, Austin 1 ; Calilao, Kendrick 2 ; Maldonado, Nelson 1 ; Acton, Cory 1 ; Peña, Roberto 1 ; McMullen, Kirby 1
HBP: Langworthy, Austin 1 ; Calilao, Kendrick 1 ; Reese, Blake 1
