College Roundup: Central Florida Knocks Off No. 3 Florida

After losing the first game of its home-and-home midweek series Tuesday against No. 3 Florida, Central Florida bounced back Wednesday at home. The Knights jumped out to an early lead, scoring five runs in the first three innings, and went on to defeat the Gators, 11-2.

HOW THE TOP 25 FARED

(1) Texas Christian: off

(2) Florida State: off

(3) Florida: lost, 11-2, at Central Florida

(4) Louisiana State: off

(5) South Carolina: off

(6) Louisville: won, 20-2, vs. Morehead State

(7) Cal State Fullerton: off

(8) Oregon State: off

(9) East Carolina: won, 7-2, vs. Elon

(10) North Carolina State: lost, 6-5, vs. Charlotte

(11) Washington: off

(12) Virginia: off

(13) North Carolina: lost, 5-4, vs. St. John’s

(14) Vanderbilt: won, 4-2, vs. Southeastern Louisiana

(15) Clemson: off

(16) Louisiana-Lafayette: off

(17) Georgia Tech: cancelled vs. Kennesaw State

(18) Coastal Carolina: won, 4-1, at UNC Wilmington

(19) Arizona: off

(20) Mississippi: off

(21) Texas Tech: off

(22) Stanford: off

(23) UC Santa Barbara: off

(24) Oklahoma State: lost, 10-7, vs. Saint Louis

(25) Texas A&M: won, 12-5, Incarnate Word

Left fielder Kyle Marsh (3-for-5, 6 RBIs) led UCF (8-1) offensively with a home run and two doubles. Third baseman Kam Gellinger and first baseman Rylan Thomas both added three hits as well. In the two games of the series, the Knights outhit the Gators 25-10.

Florida (7-2) saw its four-game winning streak come to an end, but was not the only Top 25 team to stumble Wednesday. No. 10 North Carolina State, No. 13 North Carolina and No. 24 Oklahoma State all lost at home.

UNC (8-1) was upended by St. John’s, which stayed undefeated with a 5-4 victory. The Red Storm (8-0) trailed 4-2 going into the seventh, but scored three runs to upset the Tar Heels. Senior left fielder Michael Donadio (2-for-3) hit a go-ahead, solo home run in the eighth inning off freshman righthander Austin Bergner. The home run was his 200th career hit and proved to be the difference, as freshman lefthander Joe LaSorsa finished the game with three perfect innings of relief for his first win.

The victory was St. John’s second against Top 25 opponents following its Feb. 20 victory at Coastal Carolina. The Red Storm’s 8-0 record is its best since 1981, when John Franco and Frank Viola led the team to a 14-0 start.

About 25 miles from UNC, Charlotte upset N.C. State, 6-5. The 49ers (7-2) are also off to an impressive start to the season, having already won a series against West Virginia. Freshman catcher Zack Smith, who ranked No. 376 on the BA 500 last year, delivered a go-ahead, two-run double in the seventh inning that proved to the difference. It was the first extra-base hit of the season for Smith (2-for-3, 2 R, 2 RBIs).

Saint Louis (7-1) continued its strong start to the season with a 10-7 victory at Oklahoma State (4-4). The Billikens began the season with a 4-0 weekend at the Alamo Irish Classic in San Antonio, Texas, including two wins against Notre Dame. They also went 2-1 last weekend in the Jack Gifford Memorial Tournament in Santa Clara, Calif.

Center fielder Aaron Case continued the hot start to his SLU career after transferring from Cypress (Calif.) JC. He went 2-for-5 with a triple and three RBIs and is now hitting .438/.571/.844.