March 11, 2005
ORLANDO - Sophomore shortstop Matt Horwath finished 3-for-4 with a career-high five RBI to lead No. 26 UCF past Campbell 18-8 Friday evening at Jay Bergman Field. Horwath smacked his first home run as a Golden Knight and added two doubles to lead UCF to the victory. UCF improved to 17-3 overall, 1-0 in the Atlantic Sun while Campbell dropped to 9-6 overall and 0-1 in the A-Sun.
UCF used 11 extra-base hits, including seven doubles, two triples and two home runs in the victory. The seven doubles set a season-high for UCF and were one shy of the school record.
UCF starter Darren Newlin (5-0) enjoyed the early run support en route to his fifth win of the season. Newlin yielded six runs on eight hits with four strikeouts to raise his career record to 10-0. The last UCF pitcher to begin his career 10-0 was Bo Hall in 2002.
The Golden Knights raced out to an early 14-2 advantage after four innings of play. For the second straight game, the fourth inning proved to be the big inning as UCF scored nine times in the fourth.
In the first, UCF used three straight hits to start the game, including a RBI-double by Horwath and a RBI-single by Dee Brown to give the Golden Knights a 2-0 lead.
In the second, Matt Ray drilled a two-run triple and Horwath added a RBI-groundout to push the lead to 5-0.
Campbell chipped away at the lead with two runs in the third before UCF broke the game open with nine runs in the fourth. After scoring 13 runs on eight hits in the fourth inning vs. St. Joseph's in their last game, the Golden Knights registered a school record nine hits in the fourth vs. the Camels to score nine runs.
Ray drilled a two-run double in the fourth along with a two-run double by Ryan Bono and a two-run triple off the bat of Drew Butera.
Horwath added a solo home run to deep left-center in the fifth for his second career home run at Jay Bergman Field. Horwath hit a homer last season for LSU before transferring to UCF prior to the 2005 campaign.
Campbell scored four runs in the seventh to close the gap to 16-6, but Dee Brown crushed a leadoff home run in the seventh to keep UCF in front, 17-6. The home run for Brown was the first of the season as it cleared the palm trees in left-center field.
UCF totaled a season-high 20 hits while Campbell recorded 14 hits in the loss.
Ray recorded a career-high four RBI as seven UCF players tallied multi-hit games. All nine UCF starters had a hit in the 10-run victory.
UCF returns to action with a day-night doubleheader Saturday. Game one is set for 1 p.m. while the nightcap is scheduled to start at 6 p.m.
Game Notes: For the second straight game, UCF set a school record for hits in the fourth inning ... UCF totaled nine hits in the fourth Friday vs. Campbell ... the Golden Knights scored nine runs in the inning after scoring 13 runs Tuesday in the fourth vs. St. Joseph's ... the last time UCF had 20 hits in a game was 22 vs. Wagner on March 17, 2004 ... after scoring 21 runs in four games vs. Siena, UCF has registered 40 runs in its last two games ... the last time a UCF player recorded five RBI in a game was Drew Butera at Troy State on May 3, 2003 prior to Horwath's five RBI tonight.