ATLANTA, Ga. – Matt Fox fired a complete-game two-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts to lead No. 20 UCF past Georgia State 11-0 Friday evening at Panthersville Field in Atlanta, Ga. With the win, UCF clinched the Atlantic Sun Regular Season Title outright and also eliminated Georgia State from contention in the A-Sun Tournament. The regular season title is the fourth in five years for UCF.
The win was the 40th of the season for the Golden Knights (40-14, 22-6 A-Sun). UCF has won at least 40 games in four of the last five seasons and 14 times under the tenure of legendary head coach Jay Bergman.
Fox won his 12th game of the season, becoming just the fourth player in school history to win at least 12 games. Fox is tied with Casey Kennedy (2001) for third in UCF single-season history with 12 wins.
Fox was in complete control all game, giving up just two soft singles on the night. The junior right-hander pitched his third complete-game shutout of the year, his sixth complete game, and the fourth game in which he totaled 10+ strikeouts.
Fox retired 17 of the game’s final 18 batters including four of the last five Panthers via strikeout.
The Golden Knights scored first with a run in the third inning to take a 1-0 lead. With runners on second and third, Ryan Bono hit a grounder back to the pitcher to score Clay Timpner.
UCF scored three runs in the sixth as Drew Butera drove in two runs with a single through the left side and Dee Brown laced a RBI-single to center to give the Golden Knights a 4-0 lead.
Dave Lambert connected on his second home run of the season with a solo shot in the seventh to increase the UCF advantage to 5-0.
UCF continued its scoring ways in the eighth as Matt Ray ripped a two-run single to right to extend the lead to 7-0.
Kevin Richmond added his second home run of the season with a solo shot to right in the ninth to close out the scoring at 8-0.
The Golden Knights closed out the ninth with three runs to total 10 runs over the final four innings.
Timpner led UCF as he tied a career-high with four hits (4-for-6, 2 R, 2 SB). Ray added two hits (2-for-4) including a career-high three RBI and two stolen bases while Brown was 2-for-5 with a RBI.
Butera also had a big night, going 2-for-5 with three runs (career-high) and three RBI.
The Golden Knights look to close out the regular season Saturday with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.
- Game Notes: UCF leads the all-time series 15-4 … Clay Timpner stole two bases to move into sixth place on the UCF single-season stolen base list with 37 … Timpner also moved into a tie for third place in UCF career history with 70 stolen bases … Timpner is tied with Tim Boeth (1998-99) for third place … Timpner’s four hits also moved him past Eric Riggs (1996-98) for sixth place in career hits at UCF with 223 … Ryan Bono was hit by a pitch in the fifth inning for the 16th time in 2004 … the 16 HBPs tie Bono with Rich Wallace for the UCF single-season record … Fox’s 12 strikeouts increase his single-season total to 112, fifth in UCF single-season history … UCF is 19-2 when its starting pitcher lasts 6+ innings … the Golden Knights are 24-3 when recording 10+ hits in a game … UCF hit two home runs in the game, marking the fifth time this season the Golden Knights have recorded a multi-home run game … Dee Brown had two hits to move into 11th place on UCF’s career hits list … Brown is also tied for eighth in career history with 143 RBI ... the shutout was the 13th for UCF as a team on the season, nearly doubling the old school record (7).