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FINAL
Texas - 4
UCF - 5
Winning Pitcher: Dom Stagliano (3-3)
Save: Dominic Castellano (3)
Losing Pitcher: Ace Whitehead (4-1)
With the loss, the Horns drop to 31-20 on the season and 16-10 in Big 12 play.
RECAP
After trading a pair of scoreless innings, UCF struck first in the Bottom 3rd. Ace Whitehead struck out the first batter looking, but surrendered a walk to the next batter, the 9 hole hitter. That walk was big because it came on a borderline pitch on the corner of the plate, just after ump had missed a similar borderline pitch. Lead off man Andrew Brait followed up with a single to left center, putting runners on 1B and 3B with just one out. On the very first pitch he saw, a fastball over the heart of the plate, Prevesk turned on one and sent it over the RF wall for a 3 run home run, giving UCF an early 3-0 lead.
In the Bottom 4th, the Knights tacked on a run to increase the lead to 4-0. Whitehead gave up a 1 out single to CF, followed by a runner reaching 1B on an error by Peyton Powell on a slow grounder that came off his glove. Braden Calise followed that up by hitting a fastball to RF, scoring the runner from 2B.
Going into the Top 5th, the Horns were hitless. 13 hitters up, 13 hitters down. With one out and nobody on, Kimble Schuessler hit a pitch that hung up over the plate to LF over the fence and off the side window of the truck, who someone foolishly parked by the fence. That made it a 4-1 ball game and more importantly broke up the no hitter.
In the Top 7th, the Horns were able to fully get back into the ball game as they plated two runs, making it a 4-3 ballgame. Jalin Flores began the inning by striking out on a breaking ball outside. Peyton Powell followed that up by hitting a soft chopper to the pitcher. Max Belyeu buckled down and earned a walk thereafter to get a 2 out base runner on. Kimble Schuessler then hit a liner down the LF line over the head of the 3B into the corner for an RBI triple, forcing UCF to go to the bullpen. Porter Brown swung and missed on the first pitch he saw, but followed that up by hitting a fastball up through the left side, for an RBI single. Unfortunately, Rylan Galvan struck out swinging on the seventh pitch of the at-bat, ending any further comeback.
In the Bottom of the 7th, Cade O'Hara gave up a lead off single through the left side. 9 hole hitter Kluska then laid down a sac bunt, moving the runner over to 2B with 1 out. Cade O'Hara then hit the next batter with a fastball that had too much arm side run. David Pierce turned to freshman Easton Tumis to get out of the jam. Unfortunately, Tumis moved both runners over 90ft on a wild pitch, when he threw a breaking ball down in the dirt. Tumis then hit the next batter, loading the bases with just one out and bringing 3 hole hitter Zyska to the plate. Thankfully for the Horns, Tumis got Zyska to hit a 92mph fastball, chopping it on the ground to Jalin Flores who was able to start the double play, getting the Horns out of the jam and keeping the score as it was.
The Horns were unable to take advantage of that momentum though as Will Gasparino struck out swinging, followed by a strike three called looking by pinch hitter Casey Borba, and finalized by Jared Thomas hitting the first pitch he saw on the ground to 3B.
In the Bottom 8th, Lex Boedicker struck out swinging to lead off the inning, but Matt Cedarburg drew earned a walk as Tumis failed to command the zone. UCF turned to senior Suarez to pinch run and he repaid that faith by immediately swiping 2B on a pitch that misses the bottom of the zone. Suarez then advanced to 3B on a wild pitch, when a breaking ball squirted away from Galvan. After Anthony Calabrao struck out swinging, Danny Neri hit a pitch that caught too much of the plate to RF over the head of Belyeu and off the wall for an RBI triple, making it 5-3, a vital insurance run. One heck of a game for Saurez who proposed to his girlfriend before the game, on the field.
In the Top 9th inning, Jalin Flores led off the game by turning on the first pitch he saw and launching a missile to LF for a solo HR, making it 5-4. Unfortunately, there would be no Texas comeback as Peyton Powell grounded out to 3B, then Max Belyeu struck out looking, followed by Kimble Schuessler striking out looking on the 13th pitch of the at-bat.
BIG MOMENT
In the Bottom 3rd, Ace Whitehead struck out the first batter looking, but surrendered a walk to the next batter, the 9 hole hitter. That walk was big because it came on a borderline pitch on the corner of the plate, just after ump had missed a similar borderline pitch. Lead off man Andrew Brait followed up with a single to left center, putting runners on 1B and 3B with just one out. On the very first pitch he saw, a fastball over the heart of the plate, Prevesk turned on one and sent it over the RF wall for a 3 run home run, giving UCF an early 3-0 lead.
INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE
Kimble Schuessler went 2-4 on the evening with a home run and a triple, scoring two runs and 2 RBI.
On a night where there wasn't much to write home about, Kimble was the lone bright spot.
TAKEAWAYS
The threat with Ace Whitehead on the mound was always going to be that if he is not able to locate, he can be barreled up because his fastball tops out around 87mph. One fastball left over the heart of the plate did the damage as it was demolished to RF for a three run home run.
I think Pierce was wise to take Whitehead out when he did (65 pitches) as he simply wasn't missing many bats and wasn't as sharp as he has been in the past.
Offensively, the Horns have to get more out of the top of the lineup. The leaders have been exactly that all season, leaders, but Jared Thomas is in a big time slump with an average that has fallen all the way to .344, while Jalin Flores and Powell likewise has not been as sharp at the plate as you would like to see going into the final games of the season. Tonight, Thomas and Powell went a combined 0-8.
Sunday is a massive game for the Horns as a loss likely knocks the Horns back to 4th place in the Big 12, and further damages momentum that they have been able to generate over the past few weeks.
NEXT UP
Horns are back in action tomorrow at 12pm CST as they look to try and win the series
UPDATED BIG 12 STANDINGS
- Oklahoma (20-6) - Sooners keep chugging along, winning the first game of the DH against Baylor, looking for the sweep as I type
- Oklahoma State (16-9) - Cowboys are up 8-3 in the Bottom 8th and will presumably move to 17-9 in Big 12 play, looking for a sweep tomorrow against Texas Tech
- Texas (16-10) - Horns drop the Saturday game to UCF, evening the series
- West Virginia (15-10) - Mountaineers are up 13-0 over Kansas State in the Bottom 8th, looking to move to 16-10
- Cincinnati (16-11) - Bearcats swept hapless BYU
- Kansas (14-12) - Jayhawks came back to beat Houston
- Kansas State (13-12) - Wildcats are currently down 13-0 to West Virginia which will make them .500 in Big 12 play
- TCU (13-14) - Horn Frogs are playing New Mexico State out of conference, but lost tonight to even the series
- UCF (12-13) - Knights even the series by holding on to beat Texas
- Texas Tech (12-16) - Red Raiders currently trail 8-3 in the Bottom 8th to Oklahoma State and will look to avoid being swept tomorrow
- Baylor (9-17) - Bears have lost the first two to Oklahoma and currently trail in the 3rd game
- Houston (7-18) - Cougars could not hold the lead and lost to Kansas
- BYU (6-12) - Cougars were swept by the Bearcats
