ATLANTA - UCF was not affected by two weather-related delays as Ty Hanson went 2 for 4 and knocked in two runs and Dee Brown hit his second homerun of the season, enabling the Knights to win the first game of a three-game series against Georgia State 6-1 at DeKalb South Field Friday evening.
After a one-hour delay because of rain and a 20-minute fog delay, the game resumed with UCF (31-20, 18-7 A-Sun) striking first with a run in the fourth. With the bases loaded and one out, Adam Miller drove in Clay Timpner with a sacrifice fly, giving the Knights an early 1-0 lead. The Knights would add to that lead when Dee Brown hit a solo home run to center field in the sixth off Panther starter Ronnie Robinson.
Georgia State (21-29, 11-14 A-Sun) threatened in the second when Stephen Burroughs doubled to lead off the inning and Rusty Bennett followed with a single to left field. UCF starter Mark Michael retired the bottom of the Panther lineup to end the Georgia State threat.
UCF capitalized on two hit batsmen and a fielding error in the seventh to extend the inning and eventually put two runs on the board despite not registering a hit, pushing the lead to 4-0.
The Panthers finally got on the scoreboard in the seventh when Josh Vandiver's sacrifice fly to left field scored Dustin Phillips, who legged out a doubled to lead off the inning. Georgia State threatened for more after back-to-back singles from Burroughs and Bennett, but UCF reliever Von David Stertzbach got Kevin Kawasaki to groundout and end the inning.
Hanson doubled in the top half of the ninth inning knocking in both Mike Myers and Brown, who had reached on a single and a walk respectively, giving the Knights their 6-1 advantage.
Michael went seven strong innings scattering five hits and striking out six. The win puts his record at 6-3 on the season. Robinson, who gave up four runs on four hits and struck out five, was tabbed with the loss and moves to 4-8 on the year.
The teams will meet again on Saturday afternoon for a doubleheader with the first pitch at 1 p.m.