DAYTONA BEACH - UCF (4-2) third baseman Drew Butera finished 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI to lead the Golden Knights to a 9-4 victory at Bethune-Cookman (0-7) Tuesday evening in Daytona Beach. UCF set season-highs in runs (9), stolen bases (5) and tied a season-high in hits (11) in the win.
Junior pitcher Matt Rhodes (1-1) pitched four scoreless innings to earn his first career victory. The Orlando native fanned four batters and yielded just two hits for the win.
The Golden Knights struck quickly with a five-run outburst in the first inning. UCF sent nine batters to the plate and scored four, two-out runs. After taking a 1-0 lead, shortstop Marshall Bernhard sliced a RBI-single to right field to give UCF a 2-0 advantage. First baseman Dave Lambert followed with a two-run double down the right field line to extend the lead to 4-0. Third baseman Drew Butera added the final run of the frame with a RBI-single up the middle to plate Butera.
Bethune-Cookman took advantage of a leadoff hit batsman as UCF starter Burt Clark hit Brad Frick on the first pitch of the game. Frick later scored on a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 5-1.
UCF added two runs via a Bethune-Cookman error in the third. Sebastian Boucher dropped a fly ball off the bat of Lambert in center field to score Drake Wade, increasing the lead to 6-1. Wade reached base with a triple to deep center field. With Lambert at second base, Butera followed with a RBI-single to left to give the Knights a 7-1 lead.
A leadoff walk to David Mann and a stolen base in the fourth led to UCF’s eighth run of the contest. Dee Brown drilled a RBI-single to left field, scoring Mann for the second time in the game. The RBI-single extended the lead to 8-1.
The Wildcats cut the deficit to 8-4 after a three-run fourth inning. The Wildcats used three hits in the inning to slice the UCF lead in half after four innings of play.
Ryan Bono drilled a two-out, RBI-single down the left field line in the top of the sixth inning to extend the lead to 9-4.
In addition to Butera’s three hits, Brown also totaled two hits in the five-run victory.
The Golden Knights return to action Friday at home vs. Utah. The three-game series is set to begin at 6 p.m. with WNSC calling the action live on the Yahoo! Sports Internet Audio Package.
Butera's Three Hits Lead Baseball Past Bethune-Cookman
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