April 1, 2005
DeLAND - Senior right-hander Ryan Dixon limited No. 18 UCF to one run on two hits in 7.0 innings to lead Stetson to a 10-4 victory over the visiting Golden Knights Friday night at Melching Field in DeLand. Dixon (4-2) struck out four batters and held the Golden Knights scoreless until the seventh inning to earn the win.
"There were no secrets tonight, you can just look at the line score," stated UCF head coach Jay Bergman.
The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the fifth when the Hatters put five runs on the scoreboard. Stetson started the inning with back-to-back singles before UCF starter Tim Bascom threw away a bunt by Brian Bocock, to score David Golliner from second base. Shane Jordan followed with an infield single to plate Nick Palmisano, giving the Hatters a 2-0 advantage. The big inning continued with a two-run double off the bat of Brandon Paritz to increase the Hatter lead to 4-0. The final blow came on a single up the middle by Chris Johnson to give the host Hatters a 5-0 lead.
Bascom (6-2) held the Hatters hitless through the first four innings before Stetson scored its five runs on five hits in the fifth.
Stetson tacked on two additional runs in the sixth to increase its lead to 7-0. The Hatters dealt Bascom his worst outing of his career as he yielded seven runs (five earned) on eight hits over 6.0 innings of work. The loss snapped Bascom's five-game winning streak.
John-Michael Howell gave UCF its first run of the game on one swing in the seventh as he drilled his team-leading eighth home run of the season to cut the deficit to 7-1.
Stetson scored twice in the seventh before UCF scored two runs of its own in the eighth on a two-run home run by Matt Horwath. The home run was the second in as many games for Horwath, closing the Stetson lead to 9-3. Dee Brown followed with a home run to left-center to cut the deficit to 9-4.
Stetson added a final run in the eighth to close out the scoring, 10-4.
The two teams continue the three-game series Saturday at 2 p.m. Mike Billek takes the hill for UCF while Chris Ingoglia is the scheduled starter for the Hatters. The game will air live on the UCF ISP Sports Network (740-AM The Team) with the pregame show beginning at 1:45 p.m.
Game Notes: UCF fell to 57-43 all-time vs. the Hatters with the loss ... John-Michael Howell's eight home runs on the season are the most by a UCF player since Jeremy Frost hit eight homers in 2002 ... UCF dropped to 7-6 on the season when committing two or more errors in a game ... UCF had four errors on the night ... John-Michael Howell and Matt Horwath went deep in the second straight game ... the back-to-back home runs by Horwath and Dee Brown marked the second time this season UCF has hit back-to-back jacks ... the last time was March 1 at Bethune-Cookman when Ryan Bono and Howell hit consecutive home runs.