DeLAND – Freshman pitcher Taylor Meier tossed 8.0 strong innings to lead No. 20 UCF to a 6-5 win over Campbell in the first game of the 2004 Atlantic Sun Tournament at Melching Field. The top-seeded Golden Knights improved to 43-14 overall and face Gardner-Webb tomorrow at 3 p.m. The victory was UCF’s sixth straight A-Sun Tournament win.
The Golden Knights struck first with one run in the second to take a 1-0 lead. Dave Lambert started the inning with a walk and later scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Kevin Richmond.
In the third, the Golden Knights added another two runs. Matt Ray started the scoring with a triple down the right field line to score Clay Timpner. Ray later crossed home plate as Dee Brown drove him in with a sacrifice fly to right field to give the Golden Knights a 3-0 lead.
Campbell finally got on the scoreboard in the seventh with a RBI-single by Joe Anthonsen to cut the deficit to 3-1.
UCF’s second triple of the game by Timpner in the seventh scored Drake Wade to give UCF another three-run cushion at 4-1. Later in the inning, Brown singled through the left side to score Ray, giving the Knights a 5-1 advantage.
Richmond drove in his second run of the game in the eighth with a RBI-single to right to give UCF a 6-1 lead.
Meier (6-3) ran out of gas in the ninth, as the first two batters reached base. The Altamonte Springs native struck out four batters and allowed three earned runs in the win.
Campbell made things interesting with four runs in the ninth to pull to within one at 6-5, but freshman reliever Brian Brooks nailed down his first career save to clinch the victory.
Chandler Rose led UCF with three hits (3-for-4, run) as the Golden Knights totaled 11 hits on the day. Timpner (2-for-4), Ray (2-for-4, 2 SB) and Richmond (2-for-3, 2 RBI) also had multi-hit games for the victors.
UCF returns to action Thursday vs. Gardner-Webb. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. and the game will air live on the UCF ISP Sports Network (740-AM The Team).
Game Notes: UCF is 25-4 all-time vs. Campbell including a 4-0 mark this season … Clay Timpner’s stolen base in the third inning was his 40th of the season, which puts him in a tie for fourth in UCF single-season history … Timpner is just the fifth player in school history to steal 40 bases in a season … Timpner is also tied for fourth in A-Sun single-season history with 40 stolen bases … Timpner hit his 14th career triple to move into a tie for sixth place in UCF history … Timpner’s two hits give him 85 for the season, tied for 10th in single-season history … Dee Brown delivered his 11th sacrifice fly of the season to move into a tie for first place on the UCF single-season list … Brown is the school’s all-time leader with 23 career sacrifice flies … UCF is 34-6 when scoring first … the Golden Knights are 27-3 on the year when recording 10+ hits … UCF is 20-2 when its starting pitcher lasts 6+ innings.
#20 Baseball Defeats Campbell 6-5
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