MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — No. 23 Central Florida will not be atop the Big 12 Conference at this stage of the season by probability.
The Knights showcased the multitude of the explanation why they’ve misplaced solely as soon as in league play and responded to a serious bout of adversity in as sturdy of vogue as potential Friday evening to defeat 13th-ranked West Virginia, 5-0, at Kendrick Family Ballpark.
“We were able to keep the game close, but just never got anything going offensively,” West Virginia coach Steve Sabins mentioned.
UCF (19-8, 9-1) utilized 5 pitchers that mixed on a three-hit shutout and obtained a pair of house runs from standout Andrew Williamson to construct a two-game lead within the loss column within the convention standings.
Knights’ beginning pitcher Braden Smith took a line from WVU cleanup hitter Sean Smith off his head that resulted within the closing out of the primary inning, however of much more significance, brought about Smith to drop to the enjoying floor moments earlier than emergency medical personnel checked on him. Bleeding from his face, Smith remained on the bottom for roughly quarter-hour whereas a number of towels had been utilized to reduce the bleeding. He ultimately got here to his ft, acquired a standing ovation and was carted off.
“You have a chance for life-changing brain damage and things that are serious,” Sabins mentioned. “It becomes human really quickly where it’s like we’re all really blessed to get to play baseball and be out there. All we talk about is fearless and aggressive. To do what we do at a high level, you have to want to end people and be the best in the world and you have to believe you are the best. All those factors, all of a sudden it goes to there’s someone that could potentially die on the field. That alone is super scary.”
A pair of second-inning singles enabled the Knights to strike first, together with one from DeAmez Ross that introduced in Javier Crespo for the primary run.
Max Murray took over at pitcher for UCF to begin the second, and after hitting Brock Wills to start his outing, Murray settled in and maintained his staff’s one-run lead.
The lead doubled within the third when Andrew Williamson blasted a solo house run to straightaway heart discipline.
A second run-scoring single for Ross off WVU beginning pitcher Dawson Montesa made it 3-0 within the fourth and helped chase Montesa after 4 innings. He allowed three runs on 5 hits, struck out seven and issued one stroll.
Ian Korn spelled Montesa and surrendered a run-scoring double to John Smith III within the fifth that made it 4-0.
“They had great at bats and played incredible infield defense,” Sabins mentioned. “They threw strikes and had tough at bats.”
Armani Guzman led off the house half of the fifth with a single, at which level Murray was changed by Kevin Schoneboom, who retired three straight.
“Their arms are definitely good. They threw a lot of strikes,” Guzman mentioned. “They threw chase pitches when they needed to.”
Kris Sosnowski changed Schoneboom with two on and one out within the sixth and instantly induced a primary pitch fly ball out off the bat of Brock Wills, earlier than getting Brodie Kresser on a floor ball to shortstop to finish the body.
Williamson hit his second house run of the evening and team-leading eighth this season within the seventh on a 362-shoot that stayed contained in the left discipline foul pole.
That was greater than sufficient offense as Sosnowski would log 2.2 scoreless innings earlier than giving means to Evan Jones, who retired all three batters he confronted within the ninth.
WVU (20-6, 7-3) was shutout for the primary time this season and the primary time over its final 33 video games relationship again to final 12 months.
“There’s ebbs and flows throughout the season. Playing four emotional games across the country, flying back three time zones, having six guys on our team battling a viral illness, there’s a lot that probably goes into this,” Sabins mentioned. “Our bat speed looked low tonight. In general, our guys physically didn’t look great.”
Montesa took the loss, whereas Korn threw 4 innings and struck out 5, permitting two runs on 5 hits. All however 13 of his 54 pitches had been strikes.
“My strong suit is filling up the zone and 41 out of 54 is up there in strike percentage,” Korn mentioned. “Maybe a little too many strikes, because then hitters are comfortable and know they’re going to get a strike and something to swing at.”
Freshman Weston Smith, a (*23*) native, threw a scoreless ninth for the Mountaineers.
Williamson had three of his staff’s 10 hits. Smith III, Ross and Landon Moran added two hits apiece within the victory.
The two groups conflict once more at 2 p.m. Saturday within the second of a three-game set.
“Losing in general is just miserable and you don’t ever have any comfort in wins or losses,” Sabins mentioned. “It’s all about preparation for the next game. The focus is always on getting better.”
Sabins, who famous Smith’s mother and father had been in attendance, mentioned the UCF pitcher was acutely aware after taking the road drive to the pinnacle.
“I’ve heard he’s doing well and talking,” Sabins mentioned. “Maybe a couple fractures in the face, but I’ve seen a couple of those things end up even worse. There’s probably a little deflation there and puts into perspective what we’re doing. Never felt like that was an advantage to the Mountaineers.”
