Never were the two powerhouse teams separated by more than two games, and they were tied at the top of the standings on 12 different occasions.<\/p>\n
So it\u2019s only fitting now \u2013 two games deep into an epic UCF-Rice winner-take-all series \u2013 that the two teams are again tied with one final game on Saturday at 1 p.m. to decide the regular-season champions of Conference USA.<\/p>\n
No. 13 UCF (41-13 overall and 16-7 in C-USA play) outlasted No. 4 Rice 8-6 in the conclusion of Game 1\u00a0 of the series to put itself in position to win its first C-USA title. However, No. 4 Rice (38-15 and 16-7) refused to go away quietly, topping the Knights 9-2 in the rain-delayed nightcap to set up a deciding game on Saturday for the league title.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe talk all of the time about championship Sunday; well, it\u2019s championship Saturday now,” UCF head coach Terry Rooney said. “Every single weekend we\u2019ve talked about (winning a championship). So we\u2019ll be there at 1 o\u2019clock. What else could you ask for?”<\/p>\n
Friday night\u2019s result put somewhat of a damper on UCF\u2019s 8-6 win earlier in the day and its chance to win a first conference title since 2005 when it was still a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference. A boisterous crowd of 2,687 fans \u2013 the fifth-largest all-time at the UCF Baseball Complex and most ever against a non-Florida team \u2013 saw the Knights tie the game at 2-all in the fourth inning. However, Rice put the game away by scoring two runs in the fifth, two in the eighth and two in the ninth.<\/p>\n
UCF knew all along knocking out Rice would be extremely difficult considering the Owls\u2019 championship pedigree. Rice has made 17-straight NCAA Tournament appearances and has reached the College World Series six times. Now, the Knights must knock out the longtime champs in order to get themselves a championship ring.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe kind of figured it would come down to this,\u2019\u2019 said junior center fielder Ronnie Richardson, who scored two twice in UCF\u2019s 8-6 Game 1 win and had a hit in Game 2. “We just have to go win (on Saturday). It\u2019s the definition of championship Sunday, even though it won\u2019t be Sunday.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Rooney now must decide on a starting pitcher for Saturday\u2019s winner-take-all game. He could start veteran lefthander Brian Adkins (3-4, 4.20 ERA), Ray Hanson (4-1, 3.51 ERA) or freshman lefty Eric Skoglund (5-1, 2.01). Rooney said he\u2019ll opt for the pitcher who can throw the most strikes after the Knights\u2019 pitchers walked 14 batters and hit three in the two games.<\/p>\n
Adkins, a fixture of the rotation the past three games, is desperately hoping he gets the chance to start after slumping down the stretch. Adkins is a finesse pitcher who relies on location and change of speeds.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s huge. Personally I\u2019ve never had a chance to play for a championship of this magnitude, so I\u2019m very excited and hoping to seize this opportunity,\u2019\u2019 Adkins said. “(Starting) is what I\u2019m hoping for. Obviously, I want the ball with the game on the line or the series on the line.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Trailing 2-0 in the fourth inning, the Knights turned to the bottom of their order to tie the game up. Jeramy Matos drilled a double into the left field corner to plate Ryan Breen, who had walked. With two outs, Travis Shreve lined the ball up the middle \u2013 his fourth hit in the two games \u2013 to knot the game at 2-all.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll season we have given coach gray hairs with one-run games, so it\u2019s kind of fitting that it will come down to this last game for championship (Saturday),\u2019\u2019 said Shreve, who pointed at his family in the stands upon tying up the game. “They\u2019re going through the same conditions as us, so there are no excuses. What it comes down to is the tougher team is going to win. They\u2019re a great team and we\u2019re a great team, and we have to do what we can to win.”<\/p>\n
Rice retook a two-run lead in the fifth inning without getting a hit. Two walks, a hit batter, a wild pitch and a fielder\u2019s choice plated two runs to put the Owls up 4-2.<\/p>\n
UCF closer Joe Rogers finished off Rice in Game 1, striking out Michael Fuda with two runners on to preserve the 8-6 victory. Remarkably, the conclusion of the game came just a few minutes shy of when it started 24 hours earlier. Rogers, already UCF\u2019s all-time leader in saves, tied a UCF season-record with his 12th save of the year.<\/p>\n
The Game 1 victory was UCF\u2019s first defeat of a top-five team since last April when the Knights topped No. 5 Florida at the UCF baseball complex.<\/p>\n
UCF started Friday with an 8-3 lead, but the advantage shrunk to 8-6 after reliever Roman Madrid walked in two runs and gave up a run-scoring single. Right fielder Alex Friedrich made sure Rice got no closer, throwing out Rice\u2019s Shane Hoelscher at the plate for his seventh outfield assist of the season.<\/p>\n
In the early innings on Thursday, UCF rattled and knocked Rice standout starter Matthew Reckling out of the game in third inning with a pair of two-RBI hits from Darnell Sweeney and Chris Taladay. Sweeney drove a 3-1 pitch to the opposite field for a double that scored Nick Carrillo and Travis Shreve, who had reached on a walk and a hit-and-run single respectively. Taladay made it 4-0 with another hit to left-center and D.J. Hicks pushed the score to 5-0 with his 66th RBI of the season.<\/p>\n
Friedrich, UCF\u2019s most consistent hitter all season, made Rice pay for intentionally walking Hicks in front of him by stroking a double to clear the bases in the fourth inning. The three-run shot to the wall gave the Knights a commanding 8-0 lead after four innings.<\/p>\n
Now, after a season\u2019s worth of games, a suspended contest, lengthy rain delays on Thursday and Friday and victories by both squads it comes down one game on Saturday for UCF or Rice to win a championship. Richardson said he\u2019s fully confident that his team will rise to the occasion on the big stage and produce in Saturday\u2019s winner-take-all game.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe dreamed about this and this is why we came to UCF. Coach Rooney put together the foundation of this team and now it\u2019s just about us going out to perform.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Never were the two powerhouse teams separated by more than two games, and they were tied at the top of the standings on 12 different occasions. So it\u2019s only fitting now \u2013 two games deep into an epic UCF-Rice winner-take-all series \u2013 that the two teams are again tied with one final game on Saturday at 1 p.m. to decide…","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":36820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[6977,422,590,870,1172,1359,6840,7479,2500,3887,6837,4055,4106,4621,4776],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-36819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-alex-friedrich","tag-baseball","tag-brian-adkins","tag-chris-taladay","tag-darnell-sweeney","tag-dj-hicks","tag-eric-skoglund","tag-jeramy-matos","tag-joe-rogers","tag-ray-hanson","tag-roman-madrid","tag-ronnie-richardson","tag-ryan-breen","tag-terry-rooney","tag-travis-shreve"],"yoast_head":"\n