West Virginia Falls to No. 23 UCF, Drops First Series of the Season

The West Virginia Mountaineers (21-7, 8-4) dropped their first series of the season after a 5-1 decision in a series deciding game three against the 23rd-ranked UCF Knights (20-9, 10-2) Sunday afternoon.

UCF junior Andrew Williamson captured the lead for the Knights in the top of the first with a one-out solo shot, his third home run of the series and ninth of the season, for the early 1-0 edge.

West Virginia threatened to tie the game in the second and fourth innings, placing runners at second, but UCF starting pitcher Camden Wicker hunkered down and came away unscathed. The junior right-hander allowed just three hits and recorded six strikeouts in seven scoreless innings.

Williamson's home run in the first was the lone earned run West Virginia starting pitcher Cole Chansen allowed on the day. The sophomore entered the sixth having tossed four consecutive hitless inning. He registered the first out before giving up a single to redshirt freshman Austin Jacobs. WVU opted to intentionally walked Williamson and senior John Smith III loaded the bases with an two-out infield single.

WVU head coach Steve Sabins turned to freshman reliever David Perez. Then, redshirt sophomore James Hankerson Jr. hit a sharp ground ball to the right side, hopped up and off the chest of first baseman Armani Guzman to allow a run. Senior Landon Moran worked a walk to scratch another run across. Then, redshirt sophomore James Hankerson line a two-RBI single to right field to cap a four run sixth inning for a 5-0 lead.

West Virginia loaded the bases in the eighth after seniors Brock Wills and Ben Lumsden and in-between freshman Matthew Robaugh singling to left field. However, late inning heroics failed short with the Mountaineers mustering up a run on a sacrifice fly from sophomore Gavin Kelly as the Mountaineers fell 5-1.

West Virginia is back in action Tuesday night as the Mountaineers host the Marshall Thundering Herd at Kendrick Family Ballpark. The first pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. EST and the action will stream on ESPN+.