• Final stats

The UCF Knights ended their one-sided series against Chicago State University with another blowout game.

UCF (17-4) scored 37 more runs than the Cougars (4-12) in the three-game home series, winning the third bout 8-0 at John Euliano Park in front of 1,163 fans Sunday afternoon.

Right-hander JJ Montgomery (3-0) pitched lights out, only allowing two hits—both bunts. The junior eclipsed his season-high strikeout mark with 11 strikeouts. Montgomery also pitched more innings than he has all year, throwing 77 pitches in 6.0 innings.

Chicago State started Zach Thomas (1-2) on the mound. Like Montgomery, Thomas lasted 6.0 innings but allowed four runs and seven hits in that span. He struck out four batters on 104 pitches.

Relievers Eric Hepple, Garrett Westberg and Bryce Tucker pitched an inning each to finish out the game for the Knights. They combined for four strikeouts while not allowing another hit for the rest of the game.

Montgomery didn’t allow a hit until the third inning when his counterpart, Thomas, bunted for a single with two outs. He was left on base, though, as Montgomery recorded his third strikeout of the inning, catching Cody Freund swinging to end the inning with a 2-0 lead.

The Knights started their scoring promptly, as the first two batters of the night got on base. The game started when Brandon Hernandez was hit by the first pitch of the game. Then, Rylan Thomas doubled to left field. Hernandez made it home courtesy of a sacrifice fly by Tyler Osik, his 24th RBI of the year.

Catcher Logan Heiser singled to left field to drive in Thomas for the second and final run of the first.

The sixth, seventh and eighth innings are when the Knights ran away with the game. Already leading 3-0, UCF’s scoring run started with a solo home run by right fielder Dalton Wingo to start the sixth inning and extend UCF’s lead to 4-0.

UCF added two unearned runs in the seventh inning. Second baseman Matthew Mika bunted and stole second. Then, Osik allowed Mika to reach third with a fly ball to center field. An error by Freund allowed Mika to score. Heiser, who reached base after getting hit by a pitch and advanced to third on the error, scored on a wild pitch for a 6-0 Knights lead.

Third baseman Griffin Bernardo started the eighth inning by getting hit by a three-ball pitch. Then, outfielder Ray Alejo reached base on catcher’s interference before he stole second. A wild pitch allowed Bernardo to score and Alejo to reach third. Thomas brought Alejo home with a sacrifice fly to center field to score the Knights’ final run, making the score 8-0.

Who’s Next?

The Knights prepare for a trip to Tallahassee where they will play Florida State University in a two-game series, starting on Tuesday. FSU boasts a 14-2 record.

For more on the Knights, as they look to continue their momentum from a dominating weekend, follow Tommy Cardinal on Twitter at @NDR_TomCardinal.