Baseball loses two of three to UCF

Southern Miss baseball entertained the No. 13 ranked team in the nation over the weekend, dropping two of the three games to the University of Central Florida Golden Knights at Pete Taylor Park.

Game one was the ultimate pitchers’ duel. The game went scoreless for 14 innings before the Golden Eagles were able to break the tie and take the first game of the three-game series.

Andrew Pierce was the Eagles’ starter for Friday night, going nine innings while allowing five hits on three walks and ten strikeouts. Pierce did not earn a decision in the contest. Bradley Roney then came on to pitch the remaining five innings. Roney, who earned the win, gave up just one hit and one walk while striking out five.

At the plate, the Eagles could muster just eight hits, with Blake Brown and Chase Fowler accounting for half of those hits.

The game was decided in the bottom of the fourteenth when Mason Robbins knocked a two-out blooper down the left field line that dropped for a double. Isaac Rodriguez scored from first on the play.

Game two, played on Saturday, showed much more offense from both teams. Central Florida struck first in the third inning when they scored three runs. Southern Miss then rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the third when Ashley Graeter knocked in Austin Roussel and Michael Sterling with a double. Kameron Brunty would then knock in Graeter with a ground out. UCF scored four more runs to push the lead to 7-3 before Mason Robbins recorded a two-run double, and Connor Barron scored on a wild pitch, making the score 7-6 going into the ninth inning. The Eagles’ bullpen allowed four more runs in the ninth, pushing the final score to 11-6.

Eagle starter Jake Drehoff took the loss. Drehoff went 4.2 innings, giving up seven hits and four runs while walking two and striking out four. Isaac Rodriguez led the Eagles offensively on the game, going 4-4. Also noteworthy was Roussel, who was 2-3 on the game.

Game three also provided some offensive showcasing, but mostly by the visiting team. The game initially got off to a slow start, with neither team scoring for the first three innings. UCF changed that in the fourth inning by scoring four runs off Eagle starter Boomer Scarborough. The Eagles struck back in the bottom of the inning, scoring a run off of a Rodriguez single and scoring another run when Brunty hit into a fielder’s choice. The Knights then went on to score two runs in the fifth, three in the sixth and three in the seventh to push its lead to 12-2. Southern Miss scored its final run on a Dillon Day sacrifice fly in the seventh, making the score 12-3.

Scarborough took the loss for the Eagles after going three innings, giving up three hits and four runs while walking two. Rodriguez led the eagles offensively with two hits and an RBI. He would finish the weekend going 7-14 from the plate.

After the loss Sunday, the Eagles moved to 20-15 overall, 4-5 in conference.

Southern Miss will travel to the University of South Alabama on Tuesday. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m.