UCF had a lot of questions for its Sunday entering the season.
The Knights had their first two pitchers pretty firmly established. What they needed was a way to finish the weekend. Their 2015 season was spent wondering what would have happened if they could finish these series off and if they could put together complete efforts.
A lot of the early part of 2016 was spent asking these questions too.
The beginning of American Conference season has seen the Knights put it all together. Everyone in the lineup is contributing. A pitcher has emerged. Wins are coming.
The Knights followed up a strong performance Saturday from the offense and pitcher Robbie Howell with another strong performance Sunday from the offense and pitcher Juan Pimentel. UCF earned a series win over Memphis with a 7-1 win at FedEx Field on Sunday.
Pimentel, coming off a strong performance in the weekend non-conference finale last week, earned the Sunday starting role and did not disappoint. He went into the ninth inning, giving up five hits and striking out eight. The Knights have clearly found their third starter now.
And that helped establish a base for the Knights once again.
“It was a total team effort on Championship Sunday and the guys did a fantastic job,” Coach Terry Rooney told UCFKnights.com. “To win a series to open conference play is a great accomplishment in this league. After losing on Friday, we were able to bounce back and win on Saturday and Sunday, which shows a lot about the character of these guys.”
The strong pitching led to some comfort offensively.
The Knights got two hits from Matt Diorio, Ryan Crile and Luke Hamblin. Diorio, playing his first weekend series since the opening weekend, had two RBIs, bringing in the final run in the two-run third inning that got the Knights offense started.
UCF was able to nickel and dime its way into the lead, picking up a single run in the fourth, fifth, sixth, eighth and ninth inning. The offense just kept adding to its lead in small increments.
With Pimentel dominating from the mound, that is all the team would need.
For UCF, it was the exact kind of outing the team needed to close out the series. It was nearly a carbon copy of Saturday’s stellar win. Coming home from the first conference series with a win was a big step for the Knights as they continue to come together this year.
