CLEARWATER, FLA. — For UCF, no matter what the sport may be American Conference tournaments have not been fun in recent years. And so far, 2016 has been no exception.
UCF(25-32, 8-16 American) lost a frustrating opener to its postseason with a 4-3 result at the hands of the top-seeded Tulane Green Wave, blowing a three-run lead, committing three errors and losing despite allowing just four hits.
“When you’re playing the No. 1 team in the conference you can’t give them anything, and we did. That’s the difference,” head coach Terry Rooney said.
This same UCF team, albeit with lots of different faces, were surprisingly swept in two straight games a year ago at Bright House Field in Clearwater, Fla., ending its season in a deflated disappointment.
This time around there is not anything to lose though. UCF, as the lowest and No. 8 seed, pitted itself against Tulane, the No. 14-ranked team in the nation and top seed in the American Conference. The Green Wave started a pitcher who had not started a game all year in something of a “bullpen” day for them to start the tournament.
UCF was in a position to succeed against a team they should have no business succeeding against, and it came through the two players who garnered awards for their play all season.
It was Sam Tolleson, an All-Conference Second Team selection, who deposited a two-run single to right center field in the fifth inning with the bases loaded and two outs to stretch a slim one-run lead into more.
With Robby Howell cruising up to that point, one would think the game was over with how dominant that he has been all season, sporting a sub-2.00 ERA for the entire length of his junior campaign.
You would, for UCF anyway, be unfortunately wrong.
Immediately after a successful top of the fifth inning, Howell promptly walked the first two batters in the bottom of the frame. Both of them ended up scoring.
From there, Tulane rode the momentum like a wave and took advantage of several UCF mistakes that resulted in a game thrown away.
Two of UCF’s three errors resulted in runs scored for Tulane. A fumbled grounder to second baseman Kam Gellinger allowed a run to score from third. An errant pickoff attempt by Robby Howell in the seventh inning allowed a runner to advance to second and score on a ground-rule double, breaking the deadlock and giving Tulane a lead that it was not going to relinquish.
The positivity and hope of a 3-0 lead evaporated quickly, sending the Knights to the loser’s bracket for the tournament.
“We had the 3-0 lead and had some opportunities for some two-out RBI,” Rooney said. “We out-hit them, but we gave them too many free passes and that decided it.”
If it could have gone wrong for UCF in the second half of the game, it probably did. What is most frustrating for the team is Tulane was certainly not on top of its game.
Tulane used six pitchers to complete the nine innings, all of whom looked to pale in comparison to the staff that held UCF to just four runs combined in a three-game sweep just a few weeks ago.
Tulane’s bats were also quiet. Tulane managed just four hits, two singles and two doubles, and were able to eke out four runs.
To compare, Tulane was 2-for-9 (.222) with runners in scoring position in the game.
UCF? A meager 1-for-13 (.077). And really, that is the difference. The Knights could not score when given the opportunity.
It is often discussed that a team’s margin for error can dictate how it performs in situations where the game is not going to go your way. Good teams, even great ones, are able to come out on top despite difficulties.
The teams that struggle are those who find themselves with opportunities and do not cash in. UCF found itself in that situation Tuesday, and has consistently throughout a long and difficult season.
However, the Knights are not done just yet. They will face off against Cincinnati Wednesday at 7 p.m. as Juan Pimentel will try to get a win to keep the season alive.
