Robby Howell has been un-hittable this season through his first nine starts, to the tune of a 7-0 record and a sparkling 1.14 ERA entering play this weekend. He had established himself as one of the best pitchers in the country, named this week to the National Pitcher of the Year Award by the College Baseball Hall of Fame.
In his 10th start, however, on a wet and dreary evening at Jay Bergman Field, Howell looked human.
UCF (20-20, 5-5 American) narrowly dropped its first game of a three-game weekend series with Tulane (24-13, 4-5) by a score of 4-3 with Howell taking his first loss of the season.
Howell struggled from the get-go against the Green Wave allowing hard-hit balls all around the diamond on Friday.
The Friday portion of that sentence is a strange one for Howell, who has settled into his role as the Saturday starter, but with a late scratch to usual Friday starter Cre Finfrock, Howell was forced to step into a position that he is usually not comfortable with.
Despite the sudden change, the Knights had a chance to win and put themselves in solid position, only to fall short.
“I keep telling the guys that we need to embrace that we’re going to be in a one-run game,” Rooney said. “To get on the other side of it, you just have to play a little bit better.”
Howell allowed a season-high nine hits and four earned runs in six and two-thirds innings pitched and suffered his first loss of the season, dropping to 7-1 as his ERA climbed to 1.54.
Considering the circumstances surrounding an unexpected appearance, and a one-hour-forty-minute rain delay in the middle of his outing, Howell was not sharp. But he did do enough to keep the Knights in the game.
Down 3-0 in the sixth inning, UCF had only been able to muster two hits in the first five frames. What followed in the inning was controversial and entertaining. With the bases loaded and no outs, designated hitter Matt Diorio chopped a grounder to first, and the fielder threw home. The ball beat the runner to the plate and he appeared to be out.
He was ruled safe.
After several minutes of arguing, Tulane’s supporters and coaches just about rioted, but the momentum had swung.
Two batters later Austin Griffin deposited a 2-2 pitch into left field for a two-run single to tie it at three, and it was a brand new ballgame.
In the next half inning though, Howell surrendered a crushing blow — a solo home run to backup shortstop Matt Braud, who had come into the game after Stephen Alemais had to leave with an injury following a collision with left fielder Jarret Dehart in the previous half inning.
It is an especially tough pill to swallow for UCF because Braud had only had 10 at bats all season, and only one hit — also a home run.
Austin Griffin had been struggling in his last few games, hitting only .192 in conference play and was dropped to No. 6 in the lineup on Friday, but delivered with men on base as he has been prone to do. He now has 36 RBIs on the season to go along with eight home runs and an .885 OPS.
“Griff’s a great hitter,” Rooney said. “And that was a big hit for us to tie the game right there. So many times these two-out RBI win games, and getting him going is important. Hopefully that’s a hit for him to get him going on a positive note.”
UCF had another positive sign from its bullpen as Harrison Hukari pitched two and one-third innings and retired every batter he faced.
For UCF, the problem lately has not been the pitching, with a 2.54 team ERA in conference play, but the bats have been cold.
Falling behind only put that in greater focus.
In conference play the team is hitting .254 with just four home runs in 10 games and a team on-base percentage of .311.
The status of usual Friday starter Cre Finfrock will be monitored as it develops. The news was released just an hour and half before the game, but it seems like Finfrock is just going through a period of dead arm.
“I’m just giving Cre a little more rest. Nothing more to it than that,” head coach Terry Rooney said. “It takes you a little while sometimes no matter when you pitch in the fall or summer and sometimes you just need a little bit of a break.”
The Knights were still getting jumbled around with all the changes and the rain delay did not help. More importantly, the Knights have to find their bats to pick up runs and support this now-stellar and deep pitching rotation.
Juan Pimentel (2-5, 4.42 ERA) will toe the mound on Saturday in another unfamiliar role after starting the last three Sundays as UCF looks to even up the series.
