No.13 West Virginia Shutout in Series Opener Against No. 23 UCF

The No. 13 West Virginia Mountaineers (20-6, 7-3) fell in the first of a three-game series to the 22nd UCF Knights (18-8, 9-1) Friday night 5-0 at Kendrick Family Ballpark.

A scary moment in the bottom of the first inning when UCF starting pitcher Braden Smith took a line drive to the head off the bat of WVU senior Sean Smith. After the junior was tended to by the medical staff, he stood up under his own power before being carted off the field and taken to the hospital.

The Knights put the game's first run on the board in the second after Javier Crespo dropped a one single in centerfield. The redshirt junior advanced to second on a groundout from senior Landon Moran before senior DeAmez sliced an RBI single to centerfield for the early 1-0 edge.

Max Murray took the mound for the Knights in the second inning. The freshman threw three scoreless inning and recorded four strikeouts on the evening.

Junior Andrew Williamson tacked on a run in the third with a two-out solo home run.

UCF added a run in the fourth when West Virginia starting pitcher, junior Dawson Montesa, issued his first walk of the game before Landon singled to right centerfield and Ross followed with an RBI single down the left field line for a 3-0 Knights lead. Montesa finished with seven strikeouts.

West Virginia graduate senior Ian Krorn was handed the ball to start the fifth and with one out, Williams singled back up the middle, then Senior John Smith one-hopped an RBI double off the right centerfield wall as the Knights climbed a 4-0 advantage.

Williams hit his second home run of the Knight in the seventh as the UCF bullpen pitched an eight-inning shutout, following the sudden departure of their teammate, Braden Smith, to take game one 5-0.

West Virginia will look to even the series Saturday afternoon. The first pitch is set for 2:00 p.m. EST and the action will stream on ESPN+.