ORLANDO, Fla. – The Samford University baseball team battled UCF but fell just short in a 9-6 loss to the Knights in the second game of a three-game series Saturday evening.
 
With the loss, Samford fell to 4-2 on the young season. UCF is now 4-0 with the win.
 
"This was just a really good college baseball game," Samford head coach Tony David said. "(Michael) Ross really would like to have one pitch back in the second inning, he left it up and the guy did a good job of getting it out of the park. Other than that, I thought he was great. Jake Holifield was incredible in relief. It's the cruelty of baseball that he leaves here tonight with the loss. He really could not have been better, but we tried to steal one more inning out of him there with the game tied. Garrett Staton did a good job getting us back in the game."
 
For Samford at the plate, Garrett Staton went 2-for-4 with two home runs and five RBI. Lucas Steele also drove in a run in the game for Samford. Jake Holifield (1-1) took the loss on the mound for Samford, pitching 3.1 innings, giving up three runs on two hits.
 
UCF was led by Andrew Estrella, who hit a grand slam, going 1-for-4 with four RBI. Andrew Sundean went 3-for-4 at the plate for the Knights. Alex Galvan (2-0) earned the win for the Knights, tossing 1.2 innings, giving up one run on one hit. Chase Centala pitched the final inning to pick up his third save of the season.
 
UCF jumped out to a 4-0 lead when Estrella hit a grand slam in the bottom of the second inning. In the third inning, Mikey Kluska tripled to drive in another run for a 5-0 Knights lead.
 
Samford came back with four runs in the top of the fifth inning to cut the lead to 5-4. Staton hit a three-run home run and Steele singled to drive in another run for Samford to close to within a run. Staton later hit a two-run home run in the top of the seventh inning to give Samford a 6-5 lead.
 
UCF plated a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to knot the score at 6-6 when Andrew Williamson doubled to drive in the run. The Knights scored three runs in the eighth inning to take the 9-6 win. Lex Boedicker drove in one run and Jack Zyska drove in two runs in the inning.
 
Samford and UCF will conclude the series with a game Sunday. The game is set for a 12 p.m. (CT) start from Orlando.
 
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