ORLANDO - UCF faced off against USF at Jay Bergman Field for the second time this year and it was the Bulls running away with their second win against the Knights this season. USF used an early start to go ahead, never allowing UCF to go take the lead and won the game 9-5. This ties the career record between the two schools at 39 wins each.
The Bulls jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, taking advantage of a walk and a balk by UCF starter Burt Clark (3-3). The balk brought in Mike Cunningham, who reached on the innings only hit. Jeff Baisley hit a sac fly to left center to bring in South Florida’s second run of the inning before Clark retired the next batter on strikes to end the first.
Clark was relieved in the second inning after only recording one out and surrendering two more hits. Von David Stertzbach entered the game and did not fair much better at first against the solid USF bats, who came into the game batting .320 as a team. Stertzbach gave up three hits, making the score 6-0 in only two innings of play.
UCF got on the board in the third inning starting the inning with a single, double and hit batsman to load the bases for Dee Brown. Brown hit a long sac fly to center field, giving the Knights their first run of the game and men on first and third with two outs. USF starter John Gorham came back to get the next batter on strikes and would continue to sit them down in that fashion, striking out the side in the fourth.
UCF’s best inning at the plate came in the fifth, when they ended Gorham’s streak of seven consecutive outs with a two out rally. David Mann singled to get things going and Mike Myers followed with a bullet up the middle, putting runners on first and third. Brown stepped to the plate and added his second and third RBI’s of the night when he hit the 0-1 pitch on one hop to the fence for a double, scoring Mann and Myers. Brown came around to score the Knights last run of the inning on a Clay Timpner double down the right-field line that plated Brown.
Stertzbach settled down after his rough start and had retired thirteen in a row, stretching back to the last out in the second, when the first man up in the seventh for USF crushed a ball over the wall in left field. Stertzbach retired the next three batters, but the damage was done and the score was now 7-4.
Going into the ninth the Knights had a legitimate shot at a last inning come back, but the bull pen did not hold up as Matt Fox could not find the strike zone and would leave the game with the bases loaded and two outs. Nick Whidden came in and got ahead of the batter 0-2, but was unable to finish him off. A single down the right-field line brought in two more runs and gave the Bulls a commanding 9-4 lead with only three outs left for the Knights.
UCF posted one run in the ninth to make the final 9-5. USF starter John Gorham had a career high 12 strikeouts in his seven innings of work. Gorham improved his record to 5-4, surrendering four runs on eight hits in an impressive outing. Gorham found himself in trouble twice, but was able to regain control and prevent the Knights from jumping out in front.
Ivany got the start in the DH spot and did not disappoint his coach going 3-for-4 with two runs scored, a RBI, a stolen base and a home run. Cunningham collected two hits and had three runs scored, one RBI and a stolen base on the night for USF. Brown knocked in three RBI’s giving him 28 on the year, while Mann, Myers and Timpner each had two hits for UCF
The Golden Knights play their next game on Friday, April 12, when they take on conference foes Belmont at Jay Bergman Field. The first pitch is scheduled to be thrown out a 6:00 p.m.
UCF Can't Catch Up To USF Fast Start
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