D.J. Hicks has been a clutch hitter for the Knights so far this season.
The Knights once again took a setback and turned it into a triumph in the past week, vaulting themselves into the NCAA baseball No. 13 slot in the process.
After trashing Florida A&M 16-4 and Bethune Cookman 6-2 on April 10-11, the Knights hit the road for Southern Miss (20-15, 4-5) to face a Golden Eagles team with a solid overall record, but struggling in the conference.
The first game was an odd one, with a usually powerful UCF offense reduced to scoreless as two Southern Miss pitchers worked 14 innings of shutouts while striking out 15 UCF batters. The Knights had some high-powered hurlers of their own, with Brian Adkins tossing a three-hit start through seven innings.
In the bottom of the 14th inning the Knights’ pitching finally gave way, allowing a hit and a double to end the game in a hurry after a long time on the field.
The Knights got revenge in a big way in the next two games, turning on the bats and drilling the Eagles for a combined 23 runs to easily take the series.
They’ll return home this weekend for a trio of games against another middling conference foe, Memphis (16-20, 6-6). The Tigers will be taking their first swipes at the Knights this season.
Tars lose nail-biters
It’s been an up-and-down week for Rollins on the baseball diamond, as they’ve lost three of their last four games. Two of those losses were only by a run, as the Tars have struggled to get the offensive spark against tough pitching.
That’s not for a lack of trying on the Tars’ part. In their most recent loss to Barry University (17-19, 10-8) on April 14, Rollins was continuously behind after Barry scored all of its seven runs in the first two innings. But the Tars kept fighting back, eventually bringing the game within a run on a hit-and-run play in the top of the seventh. But they couldn’t find the tying run, with the game ending on a groundout.
In the game shortstop Nick Adams and catcher Sean Reilly both hammered their ninth doubles of the year.
The Tars host Florida Tech (22-13, 7-5) this weekend starting at 6 p.m. Friday, April 20.