ORLANDO – Two complete games by Matt Fox and Kyle Bono guided No. 23 UCF to a doubleheader sweep and series victory over Stetson Saturday afternoon at Jay Bergman Field. Fox pitched 7.0 innings in the first game to lead UCF to a 5-3 win while Bono collected his third consecutive complete-game shutout in UCF’s 5-0 victory in the second game of the doubleheader.
With the two wins, UCF improved to 23-5 overall and 10-2 in the A-Sun. The Hatters dropped to 17-10 and 7-2 in conference play. UCF sits alone in first place in the conference with its 10-2 record.
In the day’s first game, Fox had a streak of 37 straight innings without allowing an earned run come to an end, but the junior right-hander still had more than enough to improve to 7-0 on the year as he won his sixth straight decision. The Coral Springs native gave up one run in the fourth inning, which also snapped a streak of 22 straight innings of shutout baseball.
With the score tied at one in the fifth inning, UCF responded with a four-run rally to take a 5-1 lead. Dee Brown and Chandler Rose each contributed RBI-singles while Marshall Bernhard drove in a run on a sacrifice bunt in the four-run frame.
Stetson managed to score two in the sixth, but Fox slammed the door shut in the seventh for the complete-game win. Bono was 3-for-3 while Brown was 1-for-2 with two RBI in the win.
In game two, Kyle Bono (4-0) was in complete control from the outset as he cruised to his fourth win of the year. Bono retired 15 of the first 17 batters of the game and totaled seven strikeouts in the complete-game, shutout effort.
Over his last 33.1 innings, Bono has not allowed an earned run. He also owns a scoreless inning streak of 21 consecutive innings pitched.
With the Stetson bats quiet, the UCF offense scored four runs over the first three innings off Stetson starter Cameron Abel. Matt Ray’s first of two stolen bases in the first inning led to the Golden Knights’ first run of the game as Ryan Bono drove him in on a RBI-groundout. Bernhard added a RBI-single as UCF built a 2-0 lead after one inning.
A leadoff double by Dave Lambert in the second led to a RBI-single by David Mann to extend the lead to 3-0.
Rose followed with a RBI-double in the third after Bernhard reached on a fielder’s choice and stole second to score the game’s fourth run.
UCF stole six bases on the day including two by Ray and Bernhard.
UCF added its final run of the game in the fifth to put the game out of reach.
The attendance Saturday was 1,106, the 15th largest crowd in Jay Bergman Field history. The three-game series had 2,187 fans visit Jay Bergman Field, the fifth largest series in Jay Bergman Field history.
The Golden Knights are back in action Tuesday at 6 p.m. vs. Bethune-Cookman at Jay Bergman Field.
Fox, Bono Lead #23 Baseball Past Stetson
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