Knight Cap: Baseball Falls to FAU and Golf Finishes Regular Season

The past week of UCF Knights sports saw a few teams have Mother Nature involve herself in their events, a school record be broken, and two teams ramping up momentum toward the conference championship. Plus, we name the Knight of the Week for your latest Knight Cap for Friday, April 8, 2022.

---

Baseball falls to FAU in Boca

Off the heels of a sweep against USF to open conference play, the baseball team stumbled to begin its road trip with a 5-3 loss to Florida Atlantic Tuesday.

The Knights had been nursing a 3-2 lead going into the 8th inning, with both runs by FAU coming from home runs in the 1st and 5th innings.

However, the Owls were able to hit a go-ahead two-run home run in the 8th off a pitch from Chase Centala, who was credited with the loss. Add one more insurance run for good measure and that sealed them the win.

While the Knights’ overall record falls to 18-11, their road trip continues this weekend with a conference-play series against Memphis. Game 1 begins on Friday at 7 p.m. Game 2 starts at 3 p.m. on Saturday, and Game 3 wraps up the series at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

---

Women’s Golf wins final regular season tournament

The UCF Women’s Golf team capped off regular season play with a 1st-place overall finish in the Brickyard Collegiate in Macon, Georgia.

Despite the tournament only being two rounds, due to weather canceling the third one, the Knights still managed to create a 16-stroke gap between them and 2nd-place Memphis.

Individually, five of the six Knights competing in the tournament finished in the top 10. They were led by Tunrada Piddon and Alyssa Lamoureux, who finished in a tie for 2nd at 143 (-1). They were named Co-AAC Golfers of the Week for their efforts.

Behind them, Ana Laura Collado finished in a tie for 5th place at 145 (+1), and Jess Baker and Zoe Allaux both finished in a tie for 7th at 146 (+2).

The team was elevated to No. 28 in Golfstat’s rankings for its performance.

The team will get one week’s worth of rest before they travel to Pinehurst, North Carolina for the American Athletic Conference Tournament on April 17-19.

---

Men’s Tennis defeats Tulane

The No. 54-ranked UCF Men’s Tennis team picked up its first win in conference play last weekend against No. 58 Tulane on the road, 6-1.

For the 1st time since February 18th, the Court 1 doubles match did not need to be completed, since the Knights already sealed the doubles point with wins on Court 2 by Lleyton Cronje and Cooper White, 6-3, and, for the third time this season, on Court 3 with Alan Rubio and JC Roddick, 7-5.

Thanks to the team’s success in doubles play, four Knight pairings were ranked by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association this week, Cronje/Pavel (No. 35), Hilderbrand/Pavel (No. 47), Cronje/White (No. 77), and Hilderbrand/White (No. 86).

While Tulane would get one point thanks to a victory in singles play over Rubio, the rest of the Knights were able to pick up singles play wins against their Green Wave counterpart, including Hilderbrand, who bumped his single-player ranking up to No. 77.

The stretch of ranked conference opponents continues for the now-No. 49-ranked Knights as they travel to face No. 40-ranked Tulsa on Friday at 6 p.m., followed by a match with No. 37-ranked Memphis at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

---

Track and Field competes in Gainesville

The UCF Track and Field team had to contend with Mother Nature as it traveled up to Gainesville for the Florida Relays.

Despite several athletes not getting the chance to compete to an altered schedule by way of inclement weather, there were still multiple new personal records set during the meet.

Four Knights earned Top 10 finishes at the meet. Among them was Rayniah Jones running in her first 200-meter dash of the Outdoor Season. She took 9th-place with a 23.40 time.

For all the information on the team’s results at the Florida Relays, check out UCF Athletics’ Day 1 and Day 2 recaps.

While most of the team will get this weekend off, four athletes: Brittany Floyd, Holly Cassels, Kennedie Reese, and Natalia Madison, will travel to Coral Gables to compete in the Heptathlon in the Hurricane Alumni Invite from April 8-9.

---

Three Rowing boats win Grand Finals in Sarasota

Three boats of the UCF Rowing team won grand finals at the Sunshine State Invite in Sarasota last weekend.

The Varsity Eight, led by coxswain Lauren Roman, beat out runner-up Iowa by three seconds to secure the grand final victory.

It was an even thinner gap for the 2nd Varsity Eight, led by coxswain Sofia Troia, who beat out runner-up Louisville in the grand final by just under two seconds.

The 2nd Varsity Four, led by coxswain Kennedy Keith, closed out the action for the team with a win in their grand final by just over two seconds over runner-up Iowa.

For full results from the Sunshine State Invite, check out UCF Athletics’ Day 1 and Day 2 recaps or firarowing.org.

The team will have this weekend off before hosting Miami (FL) at Lake Pickett on April 15 for their final home regatta of the season.

---

Men’s Golf finishes off reguler season in Augusta

On the weekend before the professional golf world descends on Augusta, Georgia’s Augusta National Golf Club for The Masters Tournament, the UCF Men’s Golf team wrapped up its regular season at the nearby Forest Hills Golf Club in the Augusta Haskins Award Invite.

The Knights came away with a 9th-place team finish with an 873 (+9) combined total. They finished 59 strokes behind the tournament champions, No. 12-ranked Texas.

Individually, the team was led by Teddy Tetak, who was the only Knight golfer to finish under par with a 214 (-2). It was enough to finish in a tie for 16th.

The team now has two weeks to prepare for the American Athletic Conference Championship tournament in Brooksville, Florida’s Southern Hills Plantation Club on April 22-24.

---

Knight of the Week

Charlotte Crook, Track and Field

Back on May 16th, 2021, Crook etched in the UCF Track and Field team’s history books by tying Anne-Marie Blaney’s program record in the Outdoor 1500-meter run (4:21.64).

Last weekend, at the Florida Relays, she took the record for herself, lowering it to 4:20.11.

This is Crook’s 2nd individual program of her UCF career, but it’s her first outdoor one. Back in January, Crook broke the program record in the Indoor 1,000-meter run.

Thus, by setting yet another new program record and breaking a tie with one of the greats in UCF distance running, Crook receives this week’s honor.