ORLANDO - Matt Fox settled into his third career start early, striking out eight in the first five innings, and UCF handed South Florida a 10-6 loss Tuesday night at Jay Bergman Field.
USF (24-13) took the first two games of the three-game set and was looking for its first season sweep of UCF since 1991.
Fox (1-2) was in control of game three, though.
The sophomore right-hander, a sixth-round draft pick of Arizona in 2001, retired 11 consecutive batters after allowing a Myron Leslie double in the first inning. He retired 16 of 17 from the end of the first through the end of the sixth.
By the end of the fourth Fox had surpassed his innings pitched high and an inning later he established his new standard for strikeouts. Fox eventually struck out 11 and walked two in 6 2/3 innings. He allowed four runs on five hits.
UCF (24-12) scored two runs in the first, third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings to assemble a 10-0 lead.
Nathan Kragt's first career home run -- a two-run blast down the left-field line -- gave the Knights a 6-0 lead in the fourth. Rich Wallace hit a towering two-run shot over the left-field fence and UCF had an 8-0 cushion in the fifth. Wallace ended the game with a career-best five RBI. UCF entered the game with just 13 home runs and had multiple home runs for the first time in 2003.
USF avoided suffering its first shutout in 185 games, scoring four in the seventh and two in the eighth.
Leslie opened the seventh with a triple into the right-field corner and Travis Brown drew a one-out walk. Scott Rachlin homered to right field to ruin the shutout bid.
Kris Howell walked with two outs and Jermaine Smith doubled down the left-field line as the Bulls cut their deficit to 10-4.
USF pulled closer with two runs in the eighth as Jeff Baisley singled, Leslie doubled and Devin Ivany walked to load the bases. Sacrifice flys from Brown and Rachlin sliced UCF's lead to 10-6.
Kyle Bono, UCF’s closer, entered the game in the eighth inning and struck out four batters over two perfect innings to end the game. As a team, the Golden Knights struck out 16 batters as a team. The 16 strikeouts tied a season high for UCF.
Matt Ingram (1-2) absorbed the loss in his first career start. The sophomore left-hander allowed two runs on three hits in two innings of work. Ingram made 37 pitches in the two innings.
The Golden Knights return to action Friday vs. No. 15 Florida Atlantic. The three-game series at Jay Bergman Field starts at 7 p.m. and will be carried live on the UCF ISP Sports Network (740-AM The Team).
