UCF baseball recap: Golden Knights Humbled By Hawks; Drop Series, 2-1

CUSA Fans UCF sports correspondent Ryan Westin provides us with a recap of the recent 3-game series between UCF and Monmouth.

UCF has still not won a series this season, as they dropped two out of three to the Monmouth Hawks over the weekend in Orlando. The Golden Knights stand at 6-9 on the season and they have a busy week ahead that doesn’t give them much time to recover from losing a series to a team that was playing for the first time this season.

UCF vs. Monmouth - Game One

The Golden Knights were able to limit the amount of errors they committed. However, they were not able to contain the bats of Monmouth and lost 7-4. The Hawks, who were playing their season opener, tallied twelve hits in the contest.

UCF dropped a 7-4 decision to Monmouth in the series opener on Friday night at Jay Bergman Field.

After plating four runs in the bottom of the 5 th, UCF carried a 4-1 lead into the sixth inning. Monmouth answered by scoring five runs of their own to retake control at 6-4 through five and a half.

UCF was unable to rally from the deficit, as the Golden Knights were held scoreless the last four innings of the game before dropping a 7-4 decision.

Monmouth's pitcher Brett Brach pitched the last four innings to pick up the win after not allowing any hits and walking one batter.

UCF vs. Monmouth - Game Two

In the second game of the series, UCF committed 6 errors and they won. You are rarely victorious when you play so poorly defensively, but Monmouth had its struggles as well and the Golden Knights capitalized on them.

The Knights got things going in the fourth inning when they produced six runs on five hits. Third baseman Chris Duffy had two hits in the inning, one of which was a two-run double.

Monmouth also provided some assistance, as pitcher Justin Esposito hit two Golden Knights with a pitch while there was also a throwing error by third baseman Mike Casale.

UCF and Monmouth both scored three runs in the seventh inning and the Golden Knights held a 10-6 advantage through seven. The Hawks tied the game in the eighth inning after scoring four runs following two UCF errors.

In the bottom of the ninth inning UCF loaded the bases with two outs after Justin Esposito walked second baseman Dwayne Bailey. With the bases loaded, Esposito did the unthinkable and walked in the winning run when he issued Eric Kallstrom a free pass that gave the Knights their lone victory of the series, 11-10.

UCF vs. Monmouth - Game Three

Entering Sunday’s rubber game, the Knights found themselves in unfamiliar territory as they were in position to collect their first series victory of the year. Monmouth got on the board first, scoring three runs in the second inning after a throwing error by third baseman Kyle Maulbetsch loaded the bases with no outs.

After two shots to right field and a sacrifice shot to center field, Monmouth led 3-0.

In the bottom of the second, Maulbetsch would redeem himself when he knocked in two runs with a single down the right field line. He then stole second base, but the inning ended two batters later when Chris Hartman grounded out to first base. Monmouth held UCF scoreless until the seventh inning when shortstop Eric Kallstrom came through with an RBI-double down the right field line.

Monmouth eliminated the possibility of a ninth inning rally when they scored seven runs in the top of the inning. UCF was only able to muster one run in the bottom of the ninth and they it fell 13-4.

Friday Night Lights
UCF is now 0-5 on Friday night this year.

LOB
UCF has been plagued by errors this season, but in their series against Monmouth they were plagued by the inability to get the clutch hits. The Golden Knights left 37 runners on base against the Hawks. (10 on Fri., 14 on Sat. 13 on Sun.)

Who's Next?
The Golden Knights do not have much time to rest as they will host Big Ten foe Michigan State on Tuesday and then Northeastern on Wednesday. Next weekend, UCF will host UMASS.