April 5, 2005
TAMPA - Kevin Richmond led No. 25 UCF with two hits and three RBI as the Golden Knights came from behind to defeat host USF, 8-7, Tuesday night in Tampa. The Golden Knights improved to 28-7 on the season - the second highest win total in the nation - while USF dropped to 20-14.
UCF used four pitchers on the night as Brian Brooks (4-1) pitched 4.0 innings of relief for the win. Freshman right-hander Jeremy Thorne got the final out of the game for his second save of the season.
USF scored first with one run in the bottom of the second. UCF looked to be out of the inning with the bases loaded as Dexter Butler hit a routine double play ball to shortstop, but Richmond threw the ball away on his throw to second on the attempted double play to score the first run of the game for the Bulls.
Richmond made up for his error in the third with the bat as he stroked a two-out, RBI-single to left center to tie the game at one. Matt Ray was hit by a pitch with two outs, stole second, and scored on Richmond's single.
USF regained the lead in the bottom of the third as Matt McHargue hit his fourth home run of the season on a 3-1 count with two outs to give the Bulls a 2-1 advantage. Another error by Richmond led to USF's third run as Brian Baisley looked to be thrown out on an attempted steal, but Richmond dropped the ball as Ryan Bono threw a perfect strike to second. On the next pitch, Nick Cardieri singled to left to score Baisley, giving the Bulls a 3-1 lead.
In the top of the fourth, Tyson Auer drove in a run with the bases loaded in the fourth on a RBI-groundout to close the gap to 3-2. Ray followed with a bunt single to second to tie the contest at three.
A two-out triple by Jeff Baisley with two outs in the fourth gave the lead back to USF at 4-3.
The Golden Knights loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth, but managed to score just one run as Ryan Bono drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to tie the game at four.
After totaling just four hits through five innings, UCF ripped off five hits in the sixth to score four runs. Richmond delivered the key hit in the frame with a two-run single to give UCF its first lead of the night, 6-4. The single by Richmond drove in his third run of the game as he chopped the ball over the head of USF first baseman Matt McHargue. The big inning continued as USF reliever Nick Manganaro uncorked a wild pitch to bring home Richmond, giving the Golden Knights a 7-4 lead. UCF scored its final run of the inning on a double steal as John-Michael Howell swiped second and Dee Brown stole home to increase the UCF lead to 8-4.
Jeff Baisley knocked in his second run of the game with a single to center in the home half of the sixth to bring the Bulls to within three at 8-5. Brian Baisley drove in his brother with a double to left to cut the lead to 8-6. After UCF reliever Brian Brooks issued two, two-out walks to load the bases, Butler tapped an infield single to second to bring home USF's seventh run of the game.
UCF returns to action Friday at home vs. Lipscomb in A-Sun action. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. from Jay Bergman Field.
Game Notes: Matt Horwath was injured in batting practice and was a late scratch from the UCF lineup ... Horwath was hit on the foot by a line drive in batting practice ... Horwath made an appearance as a pinch hitter in the seventh and struck out, ending a streak of four straight games in which he hit a home run ... UCF improved to 11-0 when Ryan Bono starts behind the plate ... UCF is 123-8 when leading after six innings over the last four seasons ... the Golden Knights are 7-2 in 2005 in one-run games.