DAYTONA BEACH — Bethune-Cookman nearly pulled off its fourth straight victory against a top-100 team in the NCAA’s RPI, but a single from UCF’s Zak Skinner ended the Wildcats’ hopes in the Knights’ 5-4 triumph on April 21 at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
“That’s a really good team, a well-coached team,” UCF head coach Rich Wallace said. “You can tell they got some really good things going. We had to earn every bit of that win.”
UCF loaded the bases in the top of the eighth inning following a single from James Hankerson Jr., an intentional walk on Andrew Williamson and an infield single from John Smith III after B-CU first baseman Jorge Rodriguez was ruled to have stepped off the bag, which otherwise would’ve ended the inning.
With two outs, the bases loaded and a one-run deficit, Skinner stepped up to the plate.
After seeing a first-pitch strike, Skinner singled through the gap between Bethune-Cookman’s shortstop and second baseman to score Cayden Gaskin, Hankerson’s pinch runner, from third and Williamson from second. Skinner’s two RBIs gave the Knights a 5-4 lead and proved to be the difference for UCF.
“Overall, the defense was really good, the bullpen was good. We could have scratched a few more across, but you still got to deliver there,” Wallace said. “And then in that eighth inning with two outs, Zak Skinner did it, and hopefully that propels us a little bit.”
Runs were scarce for both teams, but when they did score, it happened in pairs.
Bethune-Cookman scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning on a solo home run from third baseman Andrey Martinez and an RBI double from catcher Maikol Lucena to take an early lead. But those would be the only runs the Wildcats scored in five innings off UCF pitcher Roman Kimball, who made his second start of the season.
Kimball struck out four and allowed five hits.
“Where we’re at pitching-wise as far as the injuries and the depth, we need somebody to do that, and he’s been huge for us, not only in that role, but being able to throw some relief innings on the weekend, too,” Wallace said. “He’s been an absolute workhorse. He’s earned every opportunity. Our guys believe in and trust him, and that’s exactly what we needed tonight.”
UCF cut its deficit in half with a run in the top of the second, but that still felt like a victory for Bethune-Cookman after the Knights loaded the bases without an out. The Wildcats replaced starter Harbersting Abreu with Anthony Anselmo when the bases were originally loaded, and he retired the side with the exception of a Williamson RBI single.
Williamson finished the evening 3 for 4, which was the reason for B-CU walking him in the eighth inning.
The Knights took a 3-2 lead in the top of the fourth on two RBI singles from Austin Jacobs and Smith III.
Two scoreless innings ensued for both teams until UCF relieved Kimball with Max Murray, who lasted only one out, in the bottom of the sixth. Rodriguez drove in Jeter Polledo with a single, and Jose Fernandez picked up an RBI when he flew out to right field, which allowed Erick Almonte to tag and score from third to lead 4-3.
But after Skinner’s two-run single in the top of the eighth, Bethune-Cookman couldn’t rally in the eighth or ninth innings to pull out a third consecutive victory over a Power Four program.
“I think that’s our third (midweek game) in a row with a Power Four opponent, and I thought we did well,” Wildcats head coach Johnny Hernandez said. “I mean, we competed. There’s some things, obviously, that we could have done differently to have the outcome, but the mindset doesn’t change, right? We learn from the mistakes that we had today, you have an opportunity for growth and we get after it this weekend.”
Bethune-Cookman travels to Tallahassee this weekend for a series against rival Florida A&M that has potential tournament-seeding implications as both teams lead the Southwestern Athletic Conference with 15-3 conference records.
For UCF, Tuesday’s victory helped balance a skid that saw the Knights lose six of their last seven games ahead of a weekend series at Utah.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF baseball beats Bethune-Cookman, ends Wildcats’ Power 4 win streak
Reporting by Zach Allen, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
