ORLANDO - The UCF baseball team (40-20), ranked No. 23 this week by Baseball America and No. 26 by Collegiate Baseball News, travels to Florida State this weekend to begin play in the 2002 NCAA Baseball Championship. The Golden Knights enter Tallahassee as the No. 2 seed and winners of their last 10 games. Last weekend, UCF captured its sixth Atlantic Sun Championship in school history as the Knights finished a perfect 4-0 in A-Sun tournament play including an 8-6 championship game victory over Florida Atlantic.
The second-seeded Knights will face No. 3 South Florida (33-27) in the first game of the Tallahassee regional on Friday at 3 p.m. Host Florida State (56-12) is the national No. 1 seed and will face A-Sun foe and the No. 4 seed Stetson (42-17) in the nightcap Friday at 7 p.m.
Every game UCF will play in the regional will air live on 740 AM The Team with Marc Daniels handling the play-by-play duties. Live in-game statistics of each UCF contest will also be available at www.UCFathletics.com, the official athletics website of UCF.
Head Coach Jay Bergman
UCF head coach Jay Bergman is in his 26th NCAA season and his 20th as coach of the Golden Knights. Bergman won his 1,000th game of his outstanding career in UCF’s 14-9 win over Florida Atlantic on May 3. Bergman is the 25th coach in NCAA history to reach 1,000 victories. In addition, Bergman is the first coach in the Atlantic Sun to claim six conference titles to add to his eight regional appearances. Bergman has also been honored as the A-Sun Coach of the Year the last two seasons and has won the award more times than any other coach in conference history (six).
UCF In The NCAA Tournament
While winning the A-Sun title, UCF secured its place in the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in school history and its third consecutive trip in as many seasons. UCF has also earned tournament bids in 2001, 2000, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1993 and 1989. In ‘93, ‘95, ‘97, and 2000, the Knights ventured Florida State for the regional at Dick Howser Stadium. All-time, UCF is 8-14 in NCAA Tournament action including a 4-8 mark at FSU in regional play.
The last time UCF played at FSU was in the 2000 regional in Tallahassee as the Knights finished 2-2. UCF won its first two games of the regional over Evansville (4-1) and Florida State (9-8) before falling in the final two contests to the Seminoles (6-1/8-1).
Slow Start, Fast Finish
It seems like UCF’s 1-6 start to the 2002 season was a lifetime ago after the way the Knights have been playing of late. After 15 games, UCF was 5-10 but since then the Golden Knights have rolled to an impressive 35-10 record. Winners of 10 straight games and 15 of its last 18 contests, UCF is playing its best baseball of the season at the most important part of the year.
Another 40-Win Season In The Books
With UCF’s 40 victories, another 40-win season is in the record books for Jay Bergman and the Knights. UCF has won at least 40 games 13 times in its history including six out of the last seven seasons. The only year UCF did not win 40 games over the last six years was in 1999 when UCF finished 38-21.
MVP Myers Leads UCF To The A-Sun Championship
For the second straight year, UCF won both the regular season and tournament championship in the Atlantic Sun after UCF beat FAU 8-6 to win its sixth conference crown. Also for the second season in a row, a UCF shortstop captured tournament MVP honors.
Mike Myers walked away with the MVP trophy after finishing the four-day tournament on fire at the plate. Myers led all players in the tournament with six doubles and 11 RBIs over UCF’s four games.
Myers was also named first-team all-A-Sun shortstop for his efforts during the regular season.
Four Named To The All-Tournament Team
The A-Sun Champion Golden Knights had four players earn all-tournament honors. In addition to Myers, Clay Timpner, Von David Stertzbach and Ty Hanson also garnered all-tournament honors.
Stertzbach was sensational out of the bullpen, as he allowed just one earned run in three games (9.0 IP). Stertzbach also led all pitchers in the tournament with 12 strikeouts.
Brown Named A-Sun Freshman Of The Year
Dee Brown was named UCF’s first A-Sun Freshman of the Year for his efforts in assisting UCF to the conference crown. Brown batted over .400 for the majority of the season and he led all A-Sun players in conference batting average (.490) and RBIs (32). Brown was also the only freshman named to the first-team all-A-Sun team. He is tops on the club in hits (81), RBIs (55) and total bases (106).
UCF On The All-Conference Team
Three other UCF players were named to various all-conference teams following the conclusion of the regular season.
On the all-conference second team, Mark Michael was named one of the two starting pitchers while David Mann was the team’s designated hitter.
The final UCF player to earn an award was Clay Timpner, who was on the all-freshman team.
Who Needs The Long Ball?
If there is one area that UCF does not excel in, it is hitting the home run. In the A-Sun tournament, UCF failed to hit a home run over the four-game span and the team hit just 30 homers for the entire season.
The Big Inning Carried UCF To The A-Sun Title
When UCF scored in the A-Sun tourney, the Knights scored in bunches. UCF outscored its opponents 40-21 in the tournament and had six innings with four-plus runs. Along with the big inning, UCF was also strong with the bat when the team had two outs. With two outs in the tournament games, UCF hit .340 and totaled 15 RBIs. Mike Myers hit a team-best .750 with five RBIs with two outs to lead the Knights.
You Can Book This One To UCF
The Golden Knights are 9-0 as a team when Bo Hall starts on the mound. Wins have come against Bethune-Cookman twice, Campbell, Belmont, South Florida, Florida Atlantic,Troy State Mercer and Georgia State.
In his last start vs. Troy State, Hall pitched 6.0 innings and allowed just two earned runs with four strikeouts. For the season, Hall is a perfect 9-0 with a 3.98 ERA. In 63.1 innings, Hall has racked up 74 strikeouts.
Hall is also the last UCF pitcher to toss a complete game as he limited South Florida to two runs on seven hits in a 6-2 UCF win on April 23. Hall is scheduled to start for the Knights Friday vs. the Bulls.
King Of The Hill
Mark Michael has reached unfamiliar territory as far as innings pitched is concerned. While at Kentucky, he had never thrown more than 64 innings in a season. This year, Michael has tossed 83.2, tops on the team. He also leads UCF with 86 strikeouts to go along with his 7-3 record and 3.98 ERA.
Mann On A Mission
Sophomore David Mann has not been a disappointment in his first season with the Gold and Black. The Lake City CC transfer leads the team with a .413 average, which also places third in single-season history at UCF. If Mann finishes batting over .400, he would become just the fifth player in UCF history to hit .400 in a season. If Dee Brown also finishes above .400, the tandem would become the first duo in UCF and A-Sun history to hit .400 in the same year.
Sutton Continues To Rack Up The Saves
Senior Zach Sutton continues to be one of the elite closers in the Atlantic Sun Conference after adding another save and a victory in the A-Sun tournament. Sutton leads UCF with eight saves, which is also third in the conference. The eight saves also place Sutton in a tie for second-place on the single-season save list at UCF with Jason Arnold (1999), Jason Schlutt (1993) and Brian Huie (1991). For his career, Sutton has 14 saves, third-best in UCF history.
Stellar Stertzbach
Von David Stertzbach has put together quite a season out of the UCF bullpen and is a strong candidate for All-America honors. Stertzbach is a perfect 7-0 including a minuscule 1.41 ERA. Stertzbach has pitched 63.2 innings and has fanned 79 batters, second-best on the team. Opponents are batting just .218 vs. Stertzbach and he has allowed just 10 earned runs all season.
Pitching The Key For UCF
As with any baseball team, the key to winning is strong pitching and UCF has just that. UCF leads the A-Sun and is ranked 19th in the country with a team ERA of 3.81. In 489 innings pitched this season, UCF has totaled 466 strikeouts and opponents are batting just .257 vs. the Knights. Even more impressive, UCF has allowed double-figure runs in just two games this season. Stetson scored 10 runs and 13 runs in the final two games of the series at UCF earlier in the season.