Cougars' late-game heroics 'not enough' as BYU baseball loses season series against UCF

The game was over, the crowd was trickling for the exits, and then BYU out of nowhere kicked things into gear, but the Cougars didn’t have quite enough in the tank.

BYU baseball fell 7-6, losing against the UCF Knights, and losing its first Big 12 season series against a talented UCF team.

The game looked like it was over when UCF led BYU 7-2 at the top of the ninth, but BYU fought back and got it within one point, before UCF got a double out to seal the game. The Cougars had two runners on and could have won the game if the late-game batting would have delivered.

“We’ll keep working on it, these guys work hard, they play hard,” said coach Trent Pratt. “That’s a really good team, but we have to find a way to be a little bit better.”

Pratt has emphasized this throughout the season, finding ways to come together after tough losses.

The game was delayed two hours for snowy weather conditions, with the game ending nearly seven hours after the original start time.

UCF came into the game sitting at 14-4, and looking for a series win against BYU. UCF was the preseason No 7 team in the Big 12, and getting this series win gives the Knights confidence heading into Big 12 play.

The teams had already played two times this week, both teams winning a game, and most recently, BYU won by a walk off run from star junior Luke Anderson.

It looked like it would be hard to top the high-level play of both teams on Friday night, but this series finale was as good as advertised.

When the game got close towards the end, UCF began changing pitchers, trying to find someone who could give its team a spark. Angelo Smith, a junior for the Knights was able to steady the ship and help get UCF out of Provo with a win.

The game was slow early on with BYU leading 2-1 at the end of the fourth inning. UCF’s Dylan King was able to give UCF a spark and lead UCF to a 3-2 lead after six innings.

BYU did a great job of executing its game plan throughout the game, but lacked the concentration and focus to finish the game.

“We just have to be a little better at the end of the game,” Pratt said. “We just have to find some guys on the mound and get some outs at the end of the game.”

One of the main storylines from the game is BYU forcing UCF star Edian Espinal to two strikeouts; he has only had seven all year. Espinal has been terrific for the Knights all season, having a .527 batting average. The Cougars had a hard time finding a pitcher to slow down the Knights offense, allowing UCF to score two runs in the ninth inning.

The Cougars open Big 12 play 1-2. They face the Cincinnati Bearcats next week.

BYU looks to bounce back against Utah Tech Monday at 4 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.