Stephen Chucka walk-off lifts UCF to 13-inning sweep of Arizona
UCF’s Stephen Chucka waited all afternoon for his moment, then delivered the biggest swing of his freshman season so far.
With two outs in the bottom of the 13th inning, Chucka lined a walk-off single through the right side to score Cayden Gaskin from second and give UCF a 3-2 win over Arizona on Sunday at John Euliano Park. The victory completed a three-game sweep for the Knights, pushed them to 18-8 overall and 8-1 in Big 12 play, and maintains sole possession of first place in the league. Arizona fell to 9-18 overall and 2-7 in conference play.
It was another statement weekend for a UCF club that continues to find different ways to win. The Knights had already taken a series from preseason Big 12 favorite TCU and swept Oklahoma State earlier this month. Now they’ve followed that up by sweeping an Arizona team that reached the College World Series a year ago.
Pitching, defense set the tone again
Sunday’s finale was driven by UCF’s arms and defense.
Camden Wicker turned in another outstanding start, matching his career high with seven innings while allowing three hits, two earned runs, no walks and five strikeouts on 83 pitches. After taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning in last Sunday’s win at TCU, Wicker backed it up with another composed outing against an Arizona lineup that had been swinging the bat much better entering the weekend.
“At the end of the day, it was four pitches in play for strikes at all times,” Wicker said. “The defense made some great plays behind me to keep me down on pitch count throughout the game.”
Rich Wallace was even more emphatic in his assessment.
“Lights out,” Wallace said. “I thought we played really good defense. Wicker was outstanding.”
Arizona managed only three hits all day, and none came after the eighth inning. Evan Jones followed Wicker with four scoreless innings, working around a walk while striking out four. Anthony Lariz recorded one out in the 12th before Max Murray entered a pressure spot and immediately induced an inning-ending double play. Murray then tossed a scoreless 13th to earn the win. UCF’s staff combined for 13 innings, three hits and 11 strikeouts.
“That was phenomenal stuff,” Wicker said of the bullpen. “Jones and then Max Murray at the end just shutting it down and making sure that we’re going to get back on the field and have a chance to win it. That was huge for them.”
Wallace said Murray’s escape in the 12th was one of the turning points of the game.
“Lariz gets in trouble, and then you’ve got another freshman rolling out there in a big spot,” Wallace said. “To execute that pitch, that was the plan going in. Throw that pitch and try to get that double play, and he executed it right away.”
Arizona starter keeps UCF quiet for most of afternoon
For much of the day, it looked like one swing from John Smith III might be enough.
Smith crushed a solo homer to left in the first inning, his fifth home run of the season, and that 1-0 lead held for seven innings as Arizona left-hander Luc Fladda matched Wicker pitch for pitch. Fladda, who entered the weekend with one of the better ERAs in the Big 12 and only three walks in 30 innings, gave Arizona 7.2 strong innings and allowed just two runs on five hits with no walks.
Wallace said UCF never really got comfortable against Fladda’s mix.
“He made one mistake really up, and John Smith hit it out of the ballpark,” Wallace said. “He stayed down. He mixed. It was in and out. We didn’t do a good job of forcing him up.”
Arizona finally broke through in the top of the eighth. Beau Sylvester doubled, Jackson Forbes singled, and after Jones entered in relief, Mathis Meurant brought home the tying run with a sacrifice fly. A wild pitch later in the inning allowed Arizona to take a 2-1 lead. UCF answered immediately in the bottom half when DeAmez Ross singled, Jordan Lodise moved him over with a bunt, and Gaskin punched a two-out RBI single through the right side to tie the game at 2-2.
Even after that, runs remained hard to find. UCF went just 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and stranded six, but it kept getting opportunities long enough for one more breakthrough. Gaskin, who finished 3-for-5, again set the table in the 13th by ripping a one-out double down the left-field line. After Andrew Williamson struck out, Arizona intentionally walked Smith to set up a right-on-right matchup with Chucka. It didn’t matter.
Chucka comes through in the biggest spot
Chucka entered as a pinch hitter and battled deep into the count before shooting the winning single through the right side on a 2-strike pitch. It was the kind of at-bat Wallace said had been building for a while.
“Chuck’s a really good hitter,” Wallace said. “He’s that guy that’s involved in everything, even when he’s not in the game, ready to go. We talked about it an inning before, so he was ready. And it’s a heck of an at-bat, too. He’s down two strikes, fouls a bunch off, and then delivers at the end.”
Chucka said the key was staying locked in even while waiting on the bench.
“Just staying locked during the whole game, being ready when your name is called,” Chucka said. “I was, and I stuck with my approach. Sitting fastball and doing damage when I see it.”
On the two-strike battle, Chucka added: “You’ve got to foul off anything. Have heart up there. I think I did that. I got a pitch I can hit and just put a good barrel on it.”
For Chucka, an Oviedo native and Hagerty High product, the moment carried extra meaning. He said family members were in the stands to see it.
“Being a hometown kid, to deliver something like that, it’s probably one of the highlights of my life, to be honest,” Chucka said.
A team that keeps answering the moment
Sunday’s win was the fourth straight walk-off at home on a Sunday finale (South Florida, Murray State, Oklahoma State, Arizona).
“That’s a competitive, tough group,” Wallace said. “One through nine, guys off the bench, guys coming out of the bullpen, energy givers. That’s something we can build off of.”
Wicker said that belief is obvious, especially in games like this one that stretch deep into extra innings.
“You could tell we weren’t really phased there going into extra innings,” Wicker said. “I felt like we were in a good spot. Even in the 13th inning. It was just a good confidence boost for us going into next week, too.”
Next up, UCF heads to State College for a Wednesday tilt with Penn State, then visits Morgantown Friday-Sunday for a huge conference series against West Virginia.
