ORLANDO, FL ? The University of Hartford baseball team, behind four runs in the ninth scored its first victory of the season with a 7-3 win in the second game of a three-game series against the Central Florida Knights on Saturday afternoon. The Hawks (1-5) and Knights (5-10) will play a rubber-game on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. at Jay Bergman Field.
In game one of a doubleheader Saturday, the UCF baseball team surrendered four unearned runs in the eighth inning to fall to Hartford, 7-3. The Knights (5-10) get right back to work when they face Northern Iowa tonight at 6:30 p.m.
Caleb Graham controlled the Hawks through the first 5.2 innings, striking out a career-high eight batters, while giving up five hits. The only two runs he allowed were on a two-out single in the third inning by Mike Amendola, scoring Brady Stouffer and Rodger Wilmot who both singled to reach.
UCF put the first runs on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Shane Brown provided the first runner when Hawks starter Ben Sobocinski hit him with a pitch. With two outs, Brandon Romans sent the first pitch he saw just over the fence in left field.
Hartford took a one-run lead, with a single run in the seventh inning off a single through the left side by Stouffer, scoring Bobby Gorski who singled to center to lead off the inning. The Hawks held on to that lead in the bottom half, stranding Eric Kallstrom who doubled to lead off the inning. The Hawks eventually stranded three runners in the seventh.
Central Florida again filled the bases in the eighth, and this time capitalized when Jake Huxtable hammered the game-tying single to left field off of reliever Cory Beahm.
The top half of the ninth was the difference for Hartford as UCF committed to crucial errors in the field, enabling Hartford to score four unearned runs. Wilmot led off the inning reaching on the first error of the inning and he would later scored the first run on a single to left field, scoring from second, by Stouffer, his second RBI of the game. Andy Drexel scored the next two RBI on a double to right center and Simon Kudernatsch followed him with an RBI single to right, scoring Drexel.
The Hawks had four of the first five batters in the order finish with a multi-hit game, led by Stouffer who finished with three hit and two RBI. Kudernatsch joined him with three hits, while Amendola and Drexel added two hits each.
