JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Sam Armstrong smacked three of Jacksonville's 12 hits and Seth DeWitt drove in half of the Dolphins' runs in an 8-3 victory over UCF Tuesday at Sessions Stadium.
"That was a good answer-back win for us. We got back to better approaches at the plate and our pitchers stayed away from three-ball counts," said Head Coach Tim Montez. "Everybody contributed. We were able to give Austin Hays a much-needed day off. Nate Ricci filled in very well for him defensively."
UCF (15-12) scored first with a couple of runs in the third. The top two batters in the order, Luke Hamblin and Ryan Crile, both delivered RBI singles. From there, UCF would threaten multiple times but would not score again until a Eugene Vazquez RBI groundout in the eight.
Jacksonville's (16-8) big blow came in the third when the Dolphins scored five times. After Angel Camacho and Connor Stephens started the inning with singles, and after Franco Guardascione reached on a fielder's choice, Parker Perez drove in the first of his two RBI on a hit to right field. Two batters later, Sam Armstrong singled home a run. Nate Ricci plated the third run of the frame on a bases-loaded walk, and Seth DeWitt capped the inning with a two-run single to center field.
"That inning was a product of us clicking as a team, and tonight it wasn't just one or two guys clicking. We felt good as a team," said Armstrong.
In the fifth inning, DeWitt came up big again. With the bases full, the designated hitter scored two off a single. His four RBI matched a career best, while Armstrong's three-hit performance was his second in three games.
The Dolphins added an insurance run in the seventh on a Perez RBI single.
Perez, Armstrong, DeWitt, and Camacho each had multi-hit games.
In a pre-determined start, Casey Kulina (1-0) received his first Dolphin victory with one earned run over 3.1 innings. He gave up five hits and walked and struck out one.
Mike Schappell allowed just a hit over 2.1 innings of relief, while Ryan Granda and Mike Cassala each did not allow a hit in their relief appearances. Kyle Arjona gave up a run on three hits over his two innings.
Trent Thompson (2-2) was hung with the loss after allowing the five runs in the third inning. In total, he pitched 2.2 innings with four hits and a walk. UCF pitched six relievers, with two runs charged to Bryce Tucker in the fifth and a run to Andrew Deramo in the seventh.
Jacksonville hits the road for its final non-conference weekend series with a trip to TD Ameritrade Park, home of the College World Series, for a three-game series with Creighton. The action begins Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET.
