ORLANDO — UCF plated seven of its eight runs with two outs in an 8-6 victory over No. 5 Florida in front of a record crowd of 3,601 on Wednesday night at Jay Bergman Field.
Sophomore Chris Taladay (2-for-5) and senior Derek Luciano (2-for-4) each drove in three runs and the Knights withstood a six-run rally in the eighth by the Gators (28-10) that featured a grand slam by junior Preston Tucker to take both meetings between the squads this season.
Junior Travis Shreve put the Knights (24-14) on the board with a two-out RBI single in the second off junior Tommy Toledo (2-3). Junior Erik Hempe (2-for-4) reached on an infield hit with one down and moved into scoring position on a grounder by Luciano. Shreve sliced a single into left center that brought across Hempe but was then picked off by Toledo to end the inning.
Down to their final three outs, the Gators had Thompson reach on an error by second baseman Travis Shreve to begin the ninth.
Joe Rogers struck out Moyer and a fielder’s choice by Pigott erased Thompson at second base before Rogers closed the game by striking out junior pinch hitter Ben McMahan. UCF held a 15-8 advantage in hits.
The Gators resume SEC action on Friday at 6:30 p.m. with the opener of a three-game series against Alabama (25-15, 8-7 SEC). It will be UF’s first contest at McKethan Stadium since April 5 and will kick off a seven-game homestand.
