Knights rout Cornell, Tars blasted

The Knights spent the last weekend spanking Cornell in three straight games to help right their season.

Eli Putnam cranked out seven RBI in just the final game of the Knights’ series against Cornell, in what would amount to a 16-0 smashing that took shape over three wild innings. By the time the Knights’ left fielder blasted a solo shot over the left field fence in the fifth inning, the rout was already 11-0. Sam Tolleson’s three-run shot an inning earlier all but put the game away for the Knights.

On the mound, the Knights would use six pitchers in just that final game, with a struggling Juan Pimentel getting some redemption with a five-inning, six-strikeout effort that put him back in the win column at 1-4 this year. Only one of the next five UCF pitchers would surrender a hit, shutting down Cornell.

The Knights fell to 15-12 Tuesday night when they used seven pitchers in an 8-3 road loss to Jacksonville. Trent Thompson allowed five earned runs in 2.2 innings before getting pulled during Jacksonville’s five-run third inning.

It’s a three-game road trip to Tennessee coming up for the Knights, who take the first pitch from Memphis (9-15) at 7:30 p.m. Friday. They’ll be coming home next week for a 6:30 p.m. start on Tuesday against Florida Atlantic (18-4).

Rollins

The losing streak that started on the back half of a two-game series against Eckerd just added two more losses as the Tars were banged up by GCSU in Milledgeville, Ga. over the weekend.

The back-to-back slugfest losses on the road made it six straight for the Tars, dropping them to 15-13 overall and 3-6 in the Sunshine State Conference.

The second loss was especially painful for the Tars, who fell 16-2 after allowing a six-run first inning in which starter Brian Auerbach only made it through two-thirds of an inning. The Tars committed four errors in the loss, during which their first two pitchers gave up 11 runs in three innings. Jonathan Rivera tried to slow the damage with his four-inning relief appearance that closed out the game with eight strikeouts. By then GCSU had blasted four home runs in the game.

This week Cornell (6-7) came to town for a two-game series after getting blasted by the UCF Knights in three straight losses. Their first date was rained out, and they played at press time Wednesday. The Tars host Lynn (18-12) at 6 p.m. Friday, then 1 p.m. Saturday.

Winter Park

With nine wins in the last 10 games, the Wildcats have taken control of their season with a recent string of blowout wins, plus a 6-3 win in the championship game of the Orlando Spring Break Tournament to cap it off.

The Wildcats have shown they can win in tight nail-biters and giant routs, though they fared poorly when a team from Bentonville, Ark. came to town and blasted them with a 6-0 loss on March 21.

The Wildcats traveled to Oviedo (11-8) Wednesday night at press time. They host Oviedo at 7 p.m. tonight, then host Oak Ridge (9-12) at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Edgewater

The Eagles decimated Mainland in a 10-0 thrashing before hosting Oviedo last week and getting edged in a 2-1 loss before taking a vacation. They traveled to Hagerty (15-6) at press time Wednesday. They travel to Evans (4-12) at 5:30 p.m. tonight before coming home to host Seabreeze (7-10) at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.