UCF overcomes scary start, blanks West Virginia to stay atop Big 12
No. 23 UCF kept rolling Friday night in one of its biggest wins of the season, going on the road and shutting out No. 13 West Virginia, 5-0, to improve to 19-8 overall and 9-1 in Big 12 play. The Mountaineers fall to 20-6 overall and 7-3 in the league.
The night, though, quickly took a scary turn. UCF starting pitcher Braden Smith was struck in the head by a hard line drive off the bat of Sean Smith to end the first inning, as the ball ricocheted to catcher Zak Skinner, who threw to first for the out. Smith stayed down on the mound for about 15 minutes before rising to his feet and being carted off to be taken to a local hospital. His status was not immediately known.
If there was any question how UCF would respond emotionally after that moment, the bullpen answered it in emphatic fashion. Max Murray, Kevin Schoneboom, Kris Sosnowski and Evan Jones combined for eight scoreless innings, allowing just two hits with no walks and seven strikeouts.
That relief effort was especially important because West Virginia still had chances to make things uncomfortable. Murray pitched around his own throwing error and a hit batter in the third. Schoneboom stranded Armani Guzman at third in the fifth, and Sosnowski escaped a two-on situation in the sixth by getting Brock Wills to fly out and Brodie Kresser to ground out. Jones then handled the ninth cleanly to finish the shutout.
Williamson delivers the big swings
While the bullpen preserved the game, Andrew Williamson supplied the biggest blows. The junior right fielder went 3-for-4, scored three times and hit a pair of solo home runs, giving him his seventh and eighth homers of the season after entering the weekend as UCF’s team leader in power production. His first came in the third inning on a 409-foot shot to deep center. His second came in the seventh on a 362-foot drive down the left-field line that stretched the lead to 5-0.
UCF’s offense did not need a crooked number. It simply kept adding on. DeAmez Ross got the Knights on the board with an RBI single in the second, then drove in another run with a single in the fourth. John Smith III added an RBI double in the fifth after Williamson reached on an infield single. By the time Williamson homered again in the seventh, UCF had scored in five different innings and fully taken control.
Ross finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs, Smith III went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI, and Landon Moran added two hits as well. UCF struck out 13 times and drew only one walk, but still produced 10 hits and made the most of its opportunities.
Another statement for first-place Knights
The result only added to what had already become a strong stretch for Rich Wallace’s club. UCF has now won 15 of its last 18 games, including a road series win at TCU and home sweeps of Oklahoma State and Arizona. Friday’s opener was also the program’s first ranked-vs.-ranked series since 2018, and UCF came in trying to flip a series history that had been dominated by West Virginia, which held a 6-1 all-time edge entering the night after sweeping the Knights in each of the last two seasons.
A season ago, UCF won just nine games in 30 Big 12 contests. This year, the Knights matched that total in their first 10 conference games.
Saturday’s game is scheduled for 2 p.m., having been moved up two hours because of the threat of inclement weather. UCF has not announced a starter. Usual Saturday starter Matt Sauser was a late scratch last week with a back issue, and it remains unclear whether he will be available to take the mound.
