ORLANDO, Fla. - An early pitching duel gave way a couple of crooked innings as Bethune-Cookman (14-24) dropped a non-conference contest to UCF (25-12) Wednesday at Joe Euliano Park.
Jordan Pinto (0-2) held firm through three innings and only allowed one hit while striking out two through 3.2 frames. After four pitches to take the first two outs of the fourth, Pinto ran into trouble.
Consecutive walks followed by consecutive singles led to a pair of UCF runs. Reliever Joe Calamita ended the inning by inducing a fly-out to center.
The Wildcats answered an inning later though thanks to Adonis Lao. Chase DeBonis led off the inning with a hit-by-pitch, and then reached second on a Giovany Lorenzo single. Lao came through with an RBI single through the right side to cut the lead to a run.
UCF took a decisive lead in the bottom of the inning. With two aboard, Rylan Thomas launched his 10th home run of the season over left field to give the Knights a 5-1 lead.
Isaak Gutierrez worked three innings of shutout relief pitching. He walked none and added a strikeout with four hits.
UCF touched up Jeremy Adams for a pair of runs In the eighth to extend its lead to 7-1. Jordan Sinclair (1-0) earned a staff day victory for UCF.
Bethune-Cookman returns home for a critical three-game MEAC series with NCCU this weekend at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. First pitch of a doubleheader is set for 1 p.m. on Saturday, Apr. 21.
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– #Conquer –
