First Game of Series at No. 26 UCF Goes to Dartmouth, 4-3

Friday, March 24

Orlando, Fla.

6:30 PM

Dartmouth College

9-5

UCF

18-5

Dartmouth

UCF

First Game of Series at No. 26 UCF Goes to Dartmouth, 4-3

3/24/2017 9:52:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

ORLANDO, Fla. — Sophomore Matt Feinstein scored the go-ahead run in the ninth thanks to an error, and senior Chris Burkholder pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save as visiting Dartmouth (9-5) handed No. 26 UCF (18-5) a 4-3 defeat on Friday night at Jay Bergman Field. The victory is the third for the Big Green over a ranked opponent this season, their most ever.

With the score knotted at three after eight innings, the Knights handed the ball to reliever Jordan Sheftz, who promptly walked Feinstein on five pitches. With one down, Feinstein stole second, and moments later senior Michael Ketchmark, who had homered earlier, worked a walk of his own. Sheftz then fell behind junior Kyle Holbrook, 3-1, then induced a hard grounder to second that was mishandled. Third base coach Jonathan Anderson waved Feinstein to the plate, and the throw was cut by the first baseman to nab Ketchmark in a rundown, allowing the run to score.

Burkholder replaced junior reliever Patrick Peterson, who had thrown a scoreless eighth, to start the ninth and retired the side in order with two strikeouts, including the final out on a called third strike for the save.

It was Ketchmark who put the first run on the board with his team-leading third home run of the season over the fence in left to start the second inning. But the Big Green weren't done as Holbrook followed with a single, went to second one out later on a Justin Fowler single, then scored on the very next pitch thanks to Nate Ostmo's single up the middle for a 2-0 lead.

A bout of wildness in the third for Dartmouth starter Jack Fossand allowed the Knights to tie the score as the right-hander walked the first two batters, then issued another free pass with two outs to load the bases. Rylan Thomas cashed in on the opportunity by pulling a single through the left side, plating two to even things up, but Fossand got a called third strike to limit the damage.

The Big Green had a little foreshadowing of things to come as they reclaimed the lead in the fourth with a little help from the UCF defense. Fowler led off with his second hit of the day, this time with a double to left. He was able to take third on a grounder to short, but a strikeout and a grounder to third made it seem UCF would escape unscathed. The throw to first for the third out, however, was off target, allowing Fowler to score and freshman Trevor Johnson to advance to second.

Fossand strode to the mound to start the fifth, but he when he issued his fifth walk, his evening was over. Freshman left-hander Michael Parsons replaced him and got the first out, but a single and a wild pitch put the potential tying and go-ahead runs into scoring position. Thomas delivered for UCF again with a sacrifice fly, but Parsons preserved the tie by fanning a pinch hitter for the third out.

The score remained tied at three with little threat of it changing as neither team advanced a runner past first base until Feinstein stole second in the ninth, setting up the winning run.

Peterson (2-2) picked up the win with his scoreless stanza after Parsons did his job by keeping the Knights off the board for three innings with three strikeouts. The final line for Fossand was three runs, all earned, on just three hits to go with those five free passes while striking out four. As a staff, Dartmouth fanned a total of 10 UCF batters.

Scheftz (1-1) took the loss despite not allowing a hit or an earned run, though his two walks doomed him. Knight starter Robby Howell labored a bit, yielding nine hits over six innings, but he managed to provide a quality start as he gave up two earned runs, three in all, to with just one walk and seven strikeouts.

The second of the three games between the two win take place tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. The game will feature a pair of undefeated pitchers as Dartmouth will send senior right-hander Michael Danielak (3-0, 2.33) to the mound against UCF's Juan Pimentel (5-0, 1.53). The game will be streamed live on UCFKnights.tv and can be viewed with a subscription to the service.

Notes: Dartmouth's first two wins against a ranked opponent came at then-17th-ranked Miami on March 3 (1-0) and March 5 (5-0) ... Feinstein extended his hitting streak to eight games, matching Ketchmark for the longest this season ... Ketchmark is the only player on the team to reach base safely in all 14 games thus far ... the Big Green are guaranteed to have a winning record by the end of spring break for just the sixth time in the 28 years head coach Bob Whalen has been at the helm (and just the ninth time in the last 50 season overall) ... the Knights dropped to 16-3 at home with their other two losses handed to them by nationally ranked Florida State.