March 21, 2005
UCF Baseball Game Notes in PDF Format
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ORLANDO - For the first time since 1999, No. 20 UCF and No. 11 Florida will meet on the baseball diamond Tuesday, March 22 at 6:30 p.m. at Alfred A. McKethan Stadium in Gainesville. UCF head coach Jay Bergman, who served as head coach at Florida from 1976-81, has won two straight games vs. his former school including an 8-7 victory over the Gators the last time the two teams played in 1999 in Gainesville.
UCF is off to its best start in school history at 23-4, despite losing its No. 1 starter in Taylor Meier prior to the season due to an arm injury and Kyle Bono left as a draft-eligible sophomore in June, signing a professional contract with the Boston Red Sox.
Tuesday's game will air live on Sun Sports, with Mick Hubert and Nick Belmonte on the call. Belmonte played for two seasons under Bergman at UF from 1976-77. Over his two years with Bergman at Florida, Belmonte led the SEC his junior year in stolen bases with a then-SEC record 42 steals.
The game will also air on the UCF ISP Sports Network (740-AM The Team). The voice of the Golden Knights, Marc Daniels, will call the action from Gainesville. The game will air live on ucfathletics.com and will be joined in progress on 740-AM The Team at 7 p.m.
Best Start Ever
UCF's 23-4 record to begin the season is the best start in school history after 27 games. The Golden Knights are second in the nation in victories, behind only Florida State (24-4).
Florida Connections at UCF
The UCF roster has several connections to the University of Florida and its baseball program. Head coach Jay Bergman coached at Florida from 1974-81, including serving as head coach from 1976-81. His .656 winning percentage at Florida ranks first in school history for coaches with at least 300 games coached at UF.
Larry Rose, father of UCF senior infielder Chandler Rose, lettered at Florida in 1974. Larry now serves as a referee in the NFL.
Redshirt junior John-Michael Howell spent last season on the roster at UF, but did not play due to injury.
Inside the Florida Series
Despite winning two straight games vs. Florida, UCF trails the all-time series 15-11. The first time the two teams played was in 1977, when UF defeated UCF 10-0.
UCF is a perfect 6-0 vs. Florida schools in 2005.
Florida is scheduled to start freshman left-hander Stephen Locke on the mound Tuesday. UCF is a perfect 8-0 when facing left-handed starters in 2005 and 10-0 when playing at night.
In the Polls
UCF moved up two spots in the Collegiate Baseball News Top 30 poll this week to No. 20. The No. 20 ranking is the highest this season for UCF in the Collegiate Baseball poll. UCF also made its season debut in Baseball America's Top 25 at No. 25 this week.
Florida is ranked No. 12 in Collegiate Baseball's Top 30 rankings and No. 11 by Baseball America.
Scouting Florida
The Gators of Florida are 16-6 to open the season after losing two of three games at No. 14 Ole Miss over the weekend in Oxford.
Florida is led offensively by senior outfielder Jeff Corsaletti. The Port Charlotte native is batting .423 with three home runs and 19 RBI. A 22nd round draft pick of the Cleveland Indians in last summer's Major League Baseball Draft, Corsaletti is batting 106 points higher than his career average of .317 entering the season.
As a team, Florida is batting an even .300 with 27 home runs. The Gators have four regulars batting .300 or higher.
On the mound, Florida owns a team ERA of 3.31 in 201 innings. The Gators have yielded 190 hits and totaled 165 strikeouts on the season.
Florida is scheduled to start freshman left-hander Stephen Locke on the mound Tuesday. Locke has been impressive in 2005, going a perfect 3-0 in six appearances including three starts. In 24.1 innings, Locke has 17 strikeouts and just two walks.
On the Hill for UCF
UCF is scheduled to start Taylor Cobb Tuesday on the mound at Florida. The Jacksonville native has been outstanding in his return to the mound in 2005.
Cobb is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA in 12.0 innings of work. Cobb pitched 6.0 innings of relief Wednesday vs. Columbia in a game that was postponed from Tuesday night due to rain.
A Long Road Back
Taylor Cobb made his comeback complete March 6 vs. Siena. Pitching for the first time since May 10, 2003, Cobb was phenomenal in leading UCF to a 5-2 win over the Saints. Cobb missed all of 2004 with an arm injury.
In the start vs. Siena, Cobb pitched 6.0 innings and threw just 59 pitches. He allowed one run on three hits with five strikeouts for his first win since April 29, 2003 at Charleston Southern. The last time Cobb won a game he started prior to Siena was March 21, 2003 at Samford.
Break Out the Lumber
UCF set a school record for runs in an A-Sun series with 45 in a three-game sweep of Campbell March 11-12 at Jay Bergman Field.
The Golden Knights opened the series with an 18-8 victory and followed it with an 18-0 shutout and a 9-3 series finale win.
The Golden Knights hit .395 as a team vs. Campbell with eight home runs - including a Jay Bergman Field record four in the game two win.
UCF totaled 45 hits, including 26 for extra-bases (14 doubles, four triples and eight homers).
Streaking Knights
Over the last nine games, UCF has gone 8-1 with a blistering average of .351. Over the nine-game streak, UCF has outscored the opposition 113-32 (12.5-3.5 per game).
On the mound, UCF has a team ERA of 2.88 over the streak.
Three Golden Knights have hit .390 or better during the streak, led by John-Michael Howell. Howell leads UCF with a .517 average (15-for-29) with five doubles, one triple, two home runs and 13 RBI. He has a .966 slugging percentage over the nine-game stretch and a .568 on-base percentage.
Dee Brown is batting .432 over the stretch with six home runs and 18 RBI. In contrast, over Brown's first 18 games, the senior outfielder hit .226 with no home runs and 12 RBI.
Drew Butera is batting .394 over his last nine games. The junior catcher has 10 RBI and three doubles during the streak.
Two Slams in a Week
After not hitting a grand slam in 163 games since the 2002 season, UCF has hit two grand slams in its last seven games. Ryan Bono ended the 163-game drought with a grand slam vs. Campbell on March 12. Dee Brown followed with a grand slam of his own March 19 at Gardner-Webb.
The Wins Keep on Coming
UCF is among the national leaders in victories in the decade. The Golden Knights are 13th in the NCAA in wins in the 2000s with 236 victories as of March 21.
Holding the Lead
UCF has been nearly unbeatable when leading after six innings since the 2002 season. The Golden Knights are an amazing 118-7 (.944) when leading after six innings over the last four seasons.
Jumping Out On Top
The Golden Knights were 25-4 in 2004 when scoring in the first inning. UCF also enjoyed playing with the lead, holding a record of 36-7 when scoring first in 2004.
In 2005, UCF is 16-1when scoring first and 12-0 when scoring in the first inning of action.
Taking an Early Lead
UCF has jumped on the opposition in 2005, outscoring its opponents 67-19 over the first three innings of play. In the first inning, UCF has outscored the opposition 19-5.
Spreading the Wealth
UCF has 11 players with at least 10 RBI, led by Dee Brown's 30. The Golden Knights have four players with 20 or more RBI, including Brown, Marshall Bernhard (25), Ryan Bono (23) and John-Michael Howell (20).
In the Closer's Role
UCF has used six different pitchers in 2005 to close out games and earn at least one save. Leading the way is sophomore Brian Brooks, who has a team-best three saves.
Brooks is 2-1 with a 2.70 ERA in 16.2 innings of work. He got the final out in UCF's 6-5 win at Gardner-Webb last Friday.