DeLAND – Three costly UCF (44-15) errors in the top of the eighth inning led to three unearned runs for Florida Atlantic (44-15) as the Owls defeated the Golden Knights 7-4 Friday afternoon at the 2004 Atlantic Sun Championship in DeLand. The loss snapped UCF’s seven-game winning streak in A-Sun Tournament Games and was also just the second loss (17-2) for the Golden Knights in an A-Sun Tournament Game in DeLand.
With the loss, No. 20 UCF moves to the losers’ bracket and will face the winner of Stetson-Troy tonight at 7 p.m. The game will air live on the UCF ISP Sports Network (740-AM The Team).
The Owls jumped on top 1-0 in the second inning when Rusty Brown hit a solo home run to left field.
FAU added to its lead with another three runs in the third. Tim Mascia drove in one run with a double down the right field line to score Jeff Fiorentino, giving the Owls a 2-0 advantage. Brown followed with his third RBI in two innings with a two-run single to left to give FAU a 4-0 lead.
Matt Ray drove in UCF’s first run of the game in the third with a RBI-single to the gap in right center to score Drew Butera. A wild pitch by FAU starter Matt O’Brien scored Clay Timpner to cut the FAU lead in half at 4-2. Dee Brown continued the UCF momentum with a RBI-single through the left side to score Ray, bringing UCF back to within one at 4-3. The Golden Knights capped off the inning with a RBI-single by Chandler Rose to tie the game at 4-4.
UCF looked to take the lead in the fourth as Butera ripped a single up the middle with Kevin Richmond on second base, but FAU center fielder Mike McBryde gunned down Richmond at the plate for the first out of the inning.
The Golden Knights escaped a jam in the seventh as UCF starter Darren Newlin allowed the first two batters of the inning to reach base. UCF turned to reliever Tim Bascom to escape the inning without allowing a run.
Three UCF errors in the eighth led to three unearned runs by the Owls as FAU regained the lead at 7-4.
Florida Atlantic reliever Craig Hughes closed out the final 5.2 innings for the win. He allowed just two hits and no runs for the Owls.
Game Notes: UCF dropped to 1-3 vs. Florida Atlantic in 2004 with the loss … the Golden Knights dropped to 9-4 on the year when playing on Friday … UCF is 2-9 when its out-hit in a game … the Golden Knights are 9-9 when the opponent scores first … UCF dropped to 5-3 when a game was tied after seven innings … UCF starter Darren Newlin recorded a career-high seven strikeouts.
Florida Atlantic Stops #20 Baseball, 7-4
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