May 12, 2005
ORLANDO - Seven seniors will play for the final time at Jay Bergman Field this weekend as UCF (37-13, 16-8 A-Sun) hosts Georgia State (24-25, 14-10 A-Sun) in a three-game, Atlantic Sun conference series. The Golden Knights, currently three games out of first place, host the fourth-place Panthers for the final time in the A-Sun. UCF moves to Conference USA in the fall of 2005 while Georgia State switches league affiliations to the Colonial Athletic Association in the fall of 2005 as well.
Playing for the final time at home this weekend will be Marshall Bernhard, Dee Brown, Tim Ford, Darren Newlin, Matt Rhodes, Kevin Richmond and Chandler Rose.
The Golden Knights have played well all season at home, going 26-7. The 26 victories rank second in Jay Bergman Field single-season history, trailing only the 30 wins UCF collected in 2001, the year Jay Bergman Field opened.
The series begins Friday night at 6 p.m. with the second game set for Saturday at 6 p.m. and the series finale Sunday at 1 p.m. All three games will have live radio coverage on 740-AM The Team on the UCF ISP Sports Network.
Senior Darren Newlin makes his final start in front of the home crowd Friday night. Sophomore Tim Bascom is expected to start Saturday while Taylor Cobb is Sunday's scheduled starter.
Georgia State is expected to counter with right-hander Brett Strickland Friday, left-hander Ben Rulon Saturday and right-hander Romas Hicks Sunday.
Last season, UCF swept all three games from the Panthers at Georgia State. UCF is 18-3 all-time vs. Georgia State, dating back to the series start in 1995.
UCF enters the series with a .305 team batting average and a 4.00 ERA. The Panthers bat .286 as a team and own a team ERA of 5.05.