ORLANDO - Jack Zyska blasted out a seventh-inning go-ahead three-run home run to help lead UCF baseball to a 5-2 victory over Cincinnati in the second contest in the series at John Euliano Park on Saturday night.
“Jack is a gifted hitter. He’s been in those situations before and he’s got a plan. He sticks with it and competes his tail off,” said head coach Rich Wallace. “I’ve seen him succeed time and time again, getting the right pitch and delivering in the right moment.”
Some regularly scheduled programming from Jack the bat 🫡 pic.twitter.com/758NJfBuBh
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) April 28, 2024
Zyska finished going 2-for-4 with a season-high four RBIs to lead the squad offensively. The right fielder drove in his first run in the bottom of the fifth to give the Knights (26-14, 9-11 Big 12) their first run of the evening. He launched the ball out of the park in the bottom of the seventh to give the Black and Gold the advantage against the Bearcats (24-19, 10-10 Big 12). The homer marked his team-leading ninth of the season and the second time he has hit out a three-run home run in the weekend.
Andrew Brait went 2-for-3 with a team-high two runs scored. Matt Prevesk and Dylan King also recorded two hits in the contest. King was responsible for the fifth run scored and earned his first RBI as a Knight by driving in an insurance run in the seventh inning.
The pitching staff had an excellent performance in the contest by only allowing two runs and five hits from both Dom’s. Starter Dom Stagliano gave up just two runs on three hits while striking out six batters throughout the first four innings. Reliever Dominic Castellano took the mound and threw five scoreless innings while only allowing two hits. Castellano recorded five strikeouts throughout the contest en route to earning his fifth win of the season (5-0).
Both teams had strong starts on the mound with two scoreless innings. Cincinnati was first to get on the board with a run at the top of the third after a triple from Bearcat Dalton Pearson. Pearson later came in to score the second run on a wild pitch for the Bearcats. Stagliano did a nice job of limiting the damage in the inning, however, with three straight strikeouts to leave the bases full.
At the top of the fourth inning, Stagliano struck out his sixth batter of the contest. Mikey Kluska, Brait and Lex Boedicker ended the inning with a double play.
Castellano took the mound at the top of the fifth and retired the side in order. In the bottom of the fifth, Brait scored the first run of the contest for the Knights thanks to an RBI single to left field from Zyska.
At the top of the seventh inning, Castellano escaped with a bases-loaded jam with an inning-ending strikeout to mark another scoreless inning.
In the bottom of the seventh, Brait walked on ball four and advanced to third with a single from Boedicker. Zyska went to work and recorded his three-run go-ahead home run with a hard-hit line drive to deep left field. Andrew Sundean walked and advanced to second with a single from Prevesk. Anthony Calabro entered as a pinch runner for Sundean and scored the fifth run for the team with a clutch RBI single to right-center from King.
UC’s Lauden Brooks worked a one-out walk in the eighth, but Castellano retired the next two hitters he faced to strand the runner. The UCF southpaw then retired the Bearcats in order in the ninth to seal the victory.
UCF and Cincinnati have a long history, facing each other every season since 2014, minus the shortened season in 2020. The Knights earned their 20th all-time win against Cincinnati, as they now lead the head-to-head series 20-14.
The Black and Gold will look to secure the series win on Sunday afternoon, in the third and final game of the series at 1 p.m. at John Euliano Park.