UCF Knights and Rollins Tars win big

Rollins rebounds

The Rollins Tars are 19-10 overall, but struggling in Sunshine State Conference play with a 2-4 record heading deeper into the season.

They rebounded from a three-game losing streak with a 6-2 trouncing of Tampa on March 31, thanks to four hitters getting two hits apiece.

Boston Langley jacked a two-run shot out of the park in the second for some insurance runs, but the Tars already had all they needed to beat Tampa. Starter Brett Mueller went seven innings, giving up six hits for the win. That prevented a sweep by Tampa and gave the Tars their second conference win of the season.

They’ll look to build on that win with a three-game series at Eckerd in St. Petersburg. That starts at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 5, followed by a doubleheader at noon and 3 p.m. Friday, April 6.

UCF rises up

A spot in the NCAA Top 25 is a rarity among UCF’s big three sports. Cracking the top 15 is even rarer. In the past few weeks, the Knights baseball team has managed both, rising steadily in the ranks to hit No. 14 on the tide of a 23-6, 5-1 start to the season.

That impressive record includes a string of four straight wins in a whirlwind tour last week that ended with the Knights outlasting Houston in a 3-1 extra-innings win. That win closed out a three-game sweep of Houston, their second series win to start Conference USA play.

But most of the Knights’ wins haven’t even been close, with blowouts becoming the routine. In March they won six games by 8 runs or more.

And they owe that massive run differential to an experienced team that has carried a powerhouse core of players over from the last season. Ronnie Richardson, Darnell Sweeney, D.J. Hicks and Ryan Breen were regulars on the scoreboard last year, and they’re giving more of the same to the Knights.

Against Houston on April 1, the Knights’ first three batters started slowly but were the heroes of the game by the end, with Richardson and Sweeney scoring in the top of the tenth, and Hicks and Chris Taladay adding an RBI each and combining to put the icing on the Knights’ win.

The Knights took a trip to Miami Wednesday night at press time in a revenge match against the Hurricanes who beat them 3-2 in their last meeting.

When they return home Friday, they’ll host UAB with a 6:30 p.m. start time. That’ll be the first of a three-game series.