UCF advances to semifinals of Big 12 Baseball Championship
Pinch hitter AJ Nessler's RBI single in the top of the 11th lifts the Knights to their first Big 12 Championship semifinals.
Pinch hitter AJ Nessler’s RBI single in the top of the 11th inning helped UCF push past Oklahoma State, 7-6. and advance into the semifinals of the Big 12 Baseball Championship on Friday in Arlington, Texas.
The Knights (35-18) will face the winner of Texas Tech-Oklahoma State (5 p.m., ESPN+) in the semifinals (8:30 p.m., ESPN+).
The No. 2 seed Cowboys (37-17) jumped on starter Ben Vespi early with two runs before the Knights got their first out in the bottom of the first inning. OSU added two more runs on a sacrifice fly by first baseman Colin Brueggemann and a sacrifice bunt by shortstop Lane Forsythe.
The game took a dramatic turn, however, as UCF swiftly responded at the top of the second. Oklahoma State starter Brennan Phillips hit catcher Danny Neri to start the inning and issued back-to-back walks to centerfielder Andrew Williamson and third baseman Braden Calise, setting the stage for a thrilling comeback.
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Cowboys coach Josh Holliday pulled Phillips after 35 pitches and replaced him with reliever Evan O’Toole, who threw consecutive wild pitches that scored two runs. Shortstop Mikey Kluska followed with an RBI double and first baseman Lex Boedicker had an RBI single to tie the score at 4.
Oklahoma State retook the lead when rightfielder Carson Benge homered in the bottom of the fifth inning to go up 5-4.
UCF took its first lead at the top of the seventh when designated hitter Matt Cedarburg crushed a 2-0 pitch into the leftfield bleachers for a 2-run homer to put the Knights ahead, 6-5.
Tyler Wulfert’s RBI double helped the Cowboys tie the score in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Nessler’s hit in the top of the 11th came with two outs and scored second baseman Andrew Brait from second.
Reliever Dominic Castellano (6-0) pitched two innings in relief to get the win for the Knights, while Gabe Davis (1-4) took the loss for Oklahoma State.
UCF’s chances of making the 64-team NCAA tournament field appear to be promising, with the Knights entering Thursday’s game with an RPI of 38. This puts Rich Wallace’s team in a strong position, as it is projected as a third seed in the latest NCAA tourney projections by D1Baseball.
Matt Murschel can be reached at mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com