The Knights first snapped a four-game loss skid, then faltered

Courtesy of Aryah Britt

A grand slam, three back-to-back UCF home runs and a Cincinnati outfielder ejection.

These are the climactic moments that wrapped the then-No. 21 UCF baseball weekend series 2-1 in the Cincinnati Bearcats’ favor.

The Knights (21-15, 11-7 Big 12) set the tone of the series with a 7-1 victory on Friday evening. Junior outfielder Andrew Williamson kick-started an explosive fourth frame with a single that led senior infielder/outfielder Cayden Gaskin to home plate.

Senior first baseman/outfielder Landon Moran followed with an RBI double down the right field line. Moran closed the fourth frame, scoring an unearned run off of senior outfielder DeAmez Ross, who reached on a fielding error.

Sophomore pitcher Mateo Gray secured the mound, tossing a career-long 7.2 innings, nine strikeouts, and surrendered one run, while Moran led UCF offensively, swinging 1-for-2, two RBIs and one run.

The Bearcats entered the second matchup of the series with a vengeance. After both teams began with one run, Cincinnati sophomore outfielder Conlan Daniel delivered an RBI triple, homering 420 feet to left center field in the fourth frame.

Cincinnati continued its offensive stride, adding five runs in the eighth inning to put itself ahead at 9-2. 

Redshirt senior outfielder JD Rogers slammed his first home run of the season to give UCF a fighting chance at the bottom of the ninth, but was shut down after Moran flied out to the infield.

After the game ended 9-3, the Knights dropped their overall hitting percentage between both games from .241 to .188.

The bats stayed hot heading into the series finale under the 81-degree Orlando sun, as 11 runs were scored in a single inning between both teams.

UCF held a 3-0 advantage within the first three frames until Cincinnati responded with five runs. The Knights immediately responded with three consecutive home runs, beginning with a grand slam from senior outfielder John Smith III.

However, the Bearcats’ momentum carried for the remainder of the matchup, posting six runs to clinch the series in an 11-9 victory.

Junior pitcher Camden Wicker matched Gray’s nine strikeouts at the start of the series after tossing five innings, while Rogers contributed two runs and four RBIs after going 2-for-3.

Head coach Rich Wallace said the Knights’ missing the fundamentals resulted in the series finale loss.

“I liked the fight, but there are things we have to do offensively and defensively to close that game out,” Wallace said in the postgame press conference. “We had a chance defensively to clean that inning up to win the game and we didn’t get it done. We can either learn from it or let it kill us, and hopefully we’ll learn from it.”

UCF kicks off a long road trip with its first stop against the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.