• Final stats

During the early-season going, the UCF Knights struggled to find their bats. In the first six games, UCF (4-3) reached its then-season-high of six runs just twice.

Against Savannah State University for the two teams’ series-finale, UCF scored six runs in two different innings. The Knights defeated the Tigers (2-5) 15-4 Sunday afternoon at John Euliano Park in front of 1,109 fans.

Righty Jordan Spicer (1-0) got the start and his first win, pitching 4.1 innings with a strikeout, allowing four earned runs on six hits and four walks. Freshman Jack Sinclair pitched the most of the four relievers, going 2.0 innings with three strikeouts and allowing just two hits.

Savannah State’s Caleb Hill (1-1) and Spencer Gillis combined for 5.0 innings and two strikeouts, allowing 12 earned runs on 12 hits and eight walks.

With a 1-0 lead after the first inning, the Knights wasted no time enforcing their will on the game. Catcher Logan Heiser started the scoring with a double to left field, driving in second baseman Matthew Mika for a 2-0 lead.

After a fielding error allowed two more Knights to score, Ray Alejo‘s sacrifice bunt allowed Brandon Hernandez to score. Tyler Osik’s base hit to left field drove in Chandler Robertson, and Dallas Beaver scored on an erroneous gun-down attempt at second.

Alejo hit a two-RBI double to center field to start the six-run fifth inning for the Knights. Thomas, Beaver and Mika also added RBIs, as Osik scored on a bases-loaded hit by pitch.

The Tigers scored their first run of the series off a two-out wild pitch by Spicer. They followed that with a three-run fifth inning, as Freddie Landers sent a one-out, three-run bomb over the center field wall for Spicer’s last at-bat.

Who’s Next?

The Knights take to the road for one game, traveling to play Bethune-Cookman University on Tuesday at 6 p.m. Bethune-Cookman is 3-5, so far, this season, most recently losing 15-4 to the Milwaukee Panthers. The Wildcats, however, won the first two games of the weekend series 17-4 and 6-0.

For more on the Knights, as they prepare for their second road game of the season, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.

To contact Victor, you can email him at vtan@newdayreview.com.