ORLANDO – UCF sophomore first baseman Ryan Bono finished 2-for-4 with three RBI including a two-run triple to lead No. 24 UCF past Troy State 7-1 Sunday afternoon at Jay Bergman Field. With the victory, UCF earned the series win and raised its record to 34-10 overall and 19-5 in the A-Sun while Troy State dropped to 29-13, 11-10 in the conference.
The win moved UCF head coach Jay Bergman into sole possession of 22nd place on the all-time wins list in NCAA history. Bergman is 1078-597-3 over his career including a 862-484-3 mark in Orlando.
Bono had a huge weekend vs. the Trojans, going 6-for-9 with five RBI to lead the Golden Knights to the series win.
UCF scored three first inning runs to take a 3-0 lead. Bono’s two-run triple highlighted the three-run inning as Chandler Rose also drove in Bono with a sacrifice fly.
Troy State loaded the bases with no outs in the second, but UCF starter Darren Newlin limited the Trojans to just one run to escape the jam.
The Golden Knights answered with one run in the third and two in the fourth to take a 6-1 lead. The five-run cushion was more than enough for UCF reliever Brian Brooks (2-1).
The freshman left-hander from Oviedo pitched the game’s final 4.2 innings for his second win of the season. Brooks limited the Trojans to no runs on two hits with two strikeouts on just 44 pitches.
UCF recorded 10 hits on the day, including a 3-for-4 performance by Dee Brown. The junior left fielder scored two runs and drove in a run for the victors. Brown now has 136 career RBI, ninth in UCF history.
Drake Wade recorded just his second career two-hit game for UCF while Drew Butera was also 2-for-4 with a RBI-double.
UCF returns to action next week with four critical non-conferences games. The Golden Knights host USF Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Jay Bergman Field before heading to Clemson for a three-game weekend series with the nationally-ranked Tigers.