Knights power their way past Memphis 16-9

Ronnie Richardson's fifth-inning RBI single snapped a 9-9 tie and proved to be the game-winning hit in UCF's 16-9 victory against Memphis in the opening game of the Conference USA tournament.

The game featured a combined total of 25 runs, 33 hits and four lead changes.

"Memphis has an outstanding offense, and I told our guys that it was like a pendulum where it kept going back and forth," said Knights head coach Terry Rooney in a release. "But the most important thing was that we were on the positive end of it."

Jonathan Griffin, Erik Hempe and Ryan Breen drove home three runs each for the Knights, who scored their third victory in four games this season against the Tigers.

The Knights (37-20) got on the board first with two runs in the first inning, but Memphis' lineup erupted early, taking a 3-2 lead in the top of the third.

That's when the Knights rallied back.

With the bases loaded in the bottom of the third inning, Breen smashed a triple down the right field line to drive in all three base runners giving the Knights a 5-3 lead.

Memphis (29-26) battled back in the fifth inning, scoring six runs headlined by Phillip Chapman's two-run homer to chase UCF starter Brian Adkins from the game.

The Tigers tacked on four more runs against relievers Ray Hanson and Johnny Sedlock to tie the game.

However, those were the final runs the Tigers scored.

Strong pitching by the southpaw Sedlock, along with power-hitting from the Knights' lineup, which included Hempe's two-run homer and Griffin's three-run shot to center field, put the game away in the sixth and seventh innings.

UCF scored six unanswered runs to close out the game.

"We responded very well in the 9 a.m. game to put up 16 runs," Rooney said. "Tomorrow we face an outstanding UAB team and they have a tremendous pitching staff, so we will have to be at our best."

Sedlock earned the win after giving up five hits and one earned run through 4-2/3 innings of work and is now 3-0 on the season.

The Knights, who have gone 8-1 in the last nine games, will take on the eighth-seeded UAB Thursday at 10 a.m. and will face the top-seeded Rice Owls Friday. The top team from Pod 1 (Rice, UCF, Memphis and UAB) will take on the top team from Pod 2 (Southern Miss, East Carolina, Houston and Tulane) for the C-USA title on Saturday.

C-USA Postseason Awards

C-USA honored the top baseball players on the diamond as well as in the classroom this week. The Knights picked up four awards.

— 1B Jonathan Griffin – All-C-USA First Team

— DH D.J. Hicks – All-C-USA Second Team

— RHP Ben Lively – C-USA All-Freshman Team

— 3B Derek Luciano – C-USA All-Academic Team