ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) — Home runs from senior shortstop Dylan Moore, first baseman James Vasquez and freshman designated hitter Logan Heiser propelled No. 6 UCF to a 6-5 victory Saturday over Fairfield. Senior lefty Harrison Hukari, who fanned four, came in for the final six outs to notch his team-leading third save of the year.
The Knights (16-4) received five frames from sophomore right-handed pitcher Robby Howell (4-0), who struck out four to earn the victory. Solid middle-relief was contributed by senior lefty Parker Thomas with two punch outs in 1 1/3 innings.
UCF pounded out 11 hits, reaching 10-plus hits in each of the past four contest, with senior left fielder JoMarcos Woods, sophomore second baseman Kam Gellinger and Marsh tallying two each.
"The bottom line is that great teams find ways to win - that was the message to the team," head coach Terry Rooney said. "The theme early this season is that everybody picks each other up and I am very pleased with these guys for being able to do that. Every night, there seems to be a different player that steps up for us"
After fouling off a couple pitches to lead off the game for the Knights, Moore connected on a 2-2 pitch that landed over the fence in left field. The round tripper was his conference-leading seventh of the year, 1-0.
A 2-0 lead for UCF was taken in the second inning as senior right fielder Erik Barber walked and took second on a wild pitch. He came around to score on a single through the right side by Gellinger.
With one down in the fourth frame, Vasquez delivered his first homer of the season to right field. The Knights loaded the bases on a Barber walk and singles by Woods and Gellinger before Moore delivered a sac fly to left, 4-0.
The Stags cut the advantage to 4-3 in the fifth inning on four hits. The Knights responded in the bottom-half with a two-run homer to left by Heiser that scored Marsh, who reached on a single.
Fairfield came up with four hits and took advantage of an error in the sixth inning to cut into the UCF advantage, 6-5. The last chance for the Stags came in the eighth stanza as the game-tying run stood at second with one out before Hukari coaxed a strikeout looking and fly out.
The loss was given to Tucker Panciera (0-1), who logged the first five frames. Alex Witkus and Michael Conti each tallied two hits and one RBI for the Staggs.
UCF concludes the series on Sunday with the first pitch set for 1 p.m.
WFTV
