The UCF Knights took a lead in the opening inning and never looked back Thursday night, defeating Mizzou Baseball 7-1 in Orlando. Wil Libbert struggled in his first collegiate start, putting the Tigers behind early in a deficit the offense was never able to overcome.
The Tigers threatened in the top of the first, putting Mateo Serna and Kaden Peer in scoring position with two outs, before freshman Cayden Nicoletto stranded them on a flyout to left field.
UCF capitalized on a similar opportunity in the bottom of the opening inning, with Andrew Sundean scoring DeAmez Ross and Braden Calise on a two out double to left-center to jump ahead 2-0.