UCF walks off Cincinnati to open AAC baseball tournament
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With one swing of the bat, Andrew Brait earned UCF a day off and a spot in the winner’s bracket of the American Athletic Conference tournament Tuesday in Clearwater.
The fourth-seeded Knights, who led No. 5 Cincinnati 3-0 entering the eighth inning at BayCare Ballpark, shut down a comeback attempt by the Bearcats in the first-round matchup when Brait hit a walk-off home run for UCF to win 4-3.
“It feels pretty great,” Brait said after the game. “I was just trying to get on base, honestly.”
After UCF pitcher Cameron Leiter tossed seven scoreless innings, in which he allowed just 4 hits with 9 strikeouts and a walk, the Bearcats were able to get on the scoreboard in the top of the eighth once he was pulled from the game.
Cincinnati’s Sean Springer tripled off UCF reliever Najer Victor and then was brought home when Griffin Hugus grounded out at first base to cut the deficit to 2 entering the final inning.
The Knights (33-24) brought in righthander Kyle Kramer but he walked Kerrington Cross to open the top of the ninth. Representing the tying run, Ryan Nicholson hit a 2-run homer to right field.
UCF would have a chance to bat in the bottom half of the frame with the score tied at 3 or face extra innings.
The Knights didn’t squander the opportunity.
After Tom Josten popped up in the bottom of the ninth, Brait blasted a ball toward left field off of Cincinnati pitcher Chase Horst to win the game for the Knights.
“Obviously a crazy ninth inning, but we found a way,” UCF baseball coach Greg Lovelady said. “At this stage of the season, it’s just survive and advance.”
UCF will have Wednesday off and face rival South Florida in a second-round matchup Thursday (1 p.m., ESPN+).
The eighth-seeded Bulls (20-37) upset top-seeded East Carolina (41-15) in their first-round matchup that went to extra innings. USF outlasted the Pirates 12-11 in a game that went 11 innings.
Although Cincinnati (24-31) only tied the score, the Knights know they can’t give up multi-run leads and expect to advance each time.
“Whenever we get a lead we’ve got to make sure that we knock them out,” Brait said. “We didn’t have that [Tuesday].”
Still, capturing the first-round win could be crucial for UCF’s chances at advancing further in the double-elimination conference tournament.
“Hopefully this gives us a little chance to slow down, relax, get back to work and get ready to go on Thursday,” Lovelady said.
Email Jason Beede at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com or follow him on Twitter at @therealBeede.
