Vitas Gem Propels Baseball in Series Opener at UCF, 2-0

Friday, April 19

Orlando, Fla.

6 p.m.

Central Michigan University

13-25

Central Florida

22-13

Central Michigan

Central Florida

Photo by: UCF Athletics

4/19/2024 10:07:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score

Ben Vitas throws the first nine-inning shutout for the Chippewas in eight years to pin down the Knights in Orlando Friday

By: Harrison LaLone

ORLANDO, Fla. — Ben Vitas put together the first nine-inning shutout for Central Michigan Baseball in nearly eight years Friday night to take down Central Florida, 2-0, in the series-opener.

"It was just one of those days where things were working for him," Head Coach Jake Sabol said. "We've been challenging some of our pitchers to have a little different mentality lately, be a little more efficient, want the ball and go compete, and he did all of those things today."

Vitas sat down the lead-off hitter in each the first eight innings of the contest and needed just one strikeout to keep the Knights offense at bay.

"He got ahead so often and was able to get some weak contact. The ball was in play a lot and the defense made some plays."

Had UCF done the same, the senior hurler would not have opened his night with a 1-0 lead as Nick Dardas opened the game with a home run just inside the left field foul pole. Dardas would reach the plate again in the third on a sacrifice fly from Ely Stuart.

"Dardas has been having such good at-bats since we moved him to one spot. He's getting on-base a ton, his power's starting to come out a little bit. That's a tone-setter right away to have a guy step in the box and give you a lead."

Vitas's night on the mound had its share of close calls: two runners left on in the first and fifth innings, his lone strikeout of the contest used in the second frame to strand a UCF runner on third to end the inning. He scattered nine base runners evenly throughout the game.

"I'm really proud of him. He's really turned a corner the last four to five weeks and if he throws like that down the stretch, we're going to have a chance to win a lot of games."

Shutouts don't happen without great plays in the field. With a runner on, Marquis Jackson applied recent coaching in right field as he dove to his left for the third out in the fourth frame.

"I told our outfielders about a week ago that I want them to be smart out there—they know what plays they can make—but, 'we need some big plays and I want you to go out there and make one.' Whether [Jackson] makes that play or not, I was really happy he took that to heart and made that play."

After a leadoff single and a grounder to short to start the ninth, Vitas was battling a pitch count well-over 100. Assistant Coach Aaron Hilt took the opportunity to give his starter a breath and let him know there's relief waiting for him.

"We told [Vitas], 'Hey, this is probably your last hitter.' We wanted him to get one more guy before we turned it over to Bryce [Hellgeth], who's been efficient against right-handed hitting. Then he got the quick out, so we all looked at each other and said, 'we've been asking guys to do this, let's give him a chance to finish it.'"

Vitas used just seven pitches to grab his final two outs and mark CMU's first nine-inning, complete-game shutout since Nick Deeg's performance against Ball State in the 2016 Mid-American Conference tournament.

Central Michigan Baseball returns to John Euliano Park Saturday for game two against Central Florida, another 6 p.m. ET first pitch.

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