ORLANDO, Fla. – Less than 24 hours after dropping the series opener at No. 7 UCF in heartbreaking fashion, the Presbyterian College baseball team roared back with a convincing win over the Knights on Saturday for the biggest ranked victory in Blue Hose Division I history, 8-6.
PC (15-8) exploded for seven runs in the third inning en route to the win over UCF (19-5). The teams meet for the rubber match on Sunday at 1 p.m.
David Sauer (Irmo, S.C.) improved to 3-1 with his second straight win. The junior held UCF to seven hits and five runs in six innings of work before Brian Kehner (Marietta, Ga.) entered the game in the seventh and shut the Knights down, allowing only one run on two hits to earn his second save of the year.
Ryan Hedrick (High Point, N.C.) and Jay Lizanich (Greer, S.C.) each posted two RBI and five different Blue Hose tallied two hits apiece.
PC handed Robby Howell (4-1) his first loss of the season, chasing the righthander after tagging him for seven runs through 14 batters.
UCF jumped to an early lead by scoring four runs in the opening inning. A two-out RBI single preceded a three-run home run from Erik Barber to put the visiting Blue Hose in an immediate hole.
PC would not be deterred. After a scoreless second inning, the Blue Hose jolted to life in the third. Three straight singles—including Glen Casaceli (Jupiter, Fla.) beating out a bunt—loaded the bases for Tyler Weyenberg (Marietta, Ga.), who drew a walk to plate PC's first run. Hedrick then smacked a 2-2 pitch to right center to make it a 4-2 game before Lizanich tied the game by way of a two-run single.
One out later, Cam McRae (Darlington, S.C.) hit a run-scoring double to prompt a pitching change and bring up Jacob Midkiff (Rock Hill, S.C.). The junior first baseman hit a grounder that scored Lizanich, but the throw from the shortstop went for an error and also plated McRae for a 7-4 PC lead.
A Hedrick sac fly in the fourth tacked on another run for an 8-4 lead.
From there, PC pitching and defense took over. UCF's only two runs would come by way of leadoff home runs in the sixth and ninth as the Knights' bats went cold down the stretch. PC turned a double play to end the eighth and forced UCF to strand runners in the sixth, seventh and ninth to seal the historic win.
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Presbyterian College 007 100 000 - 8 13 0 (15-8)
UCF................. 400 001 001 - 6 9 1 (19-5)
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Pitchers: Presbyterian College - SAUER, David; KEHNER, Brian(7) and KOSKI, Rob. UCF -
HOWELL, Robby; THOMAS, Parker(3) and SAVINON, Jordan.
Win-SAUER, David(3-1) Save-KEHNER, Brian(2) Loss-HOWELL, Robby(4-1) T-2:39 A-1092
HR UCF - BARBER, Erik 2 (6); HEISER, Logan (6).
