May 13, 2005
ORLANDO - Ryan Bono drilled a RBI-single with two outs as host UCF (38-13, 17-8 A-Sun) rallied for a 3-2 victory over Georgia State (24-26, 14-11 A-Sun) Friday night at Jay Bergman Field. For the first time this season, UCF won a game after trailing in the ninth inning as UCF erased a 2-1 deficit in the ninth to defeat the Panthers. The Golden Knights entered the game 0-11 when trailing after eight innings of play in 2005, but Bono's single with two outs and two runners on base ended the contest.
"That is the first come-from-behind victory we have had all year," stated UCF head coach Jay Bergman. "It came at the right time and our relief pitching was really good tonight in the win."
The Golden Knights were stymied all night long by Georgia State starter Romas Hicks. The senior right-hander limited UCF to one run on five hits with 10 strikeouts in 7.2 innings of work. UCF left 10 runners on base through seven innings of play - and 13 for the game - until the UCF bats came alive in the final two innings.
The Panthers led 2-0 after scoring a pair of runs in the second. One UCF error led to an unearned run as the shutout was alive until the eighth.
Kevin Richmond finally broke up the shutout bid with a RBI-single to cut the lead in half in the eighth at 2-1.
In the ninth, Matt Horwath started the rally with a one-out single. Dee Brown followed with a single through the left side before John-Michael Howell lined a single to score Horwath to tie the contest, 2-2. After GSU reliever Brent Everett struck out Drew Butera for the second out in the inning, the Panthers turned to left-hander Justin Meyer to face Bono. Bono fell behind 1-2 in the count before ripping a single to center to score Brown from second on a close play at the plate to clinch the victory.
UCF starter Tim Bascom turned in another stellar performance, pitching 6.2 innings with just one earned run allowed. He yielded seven hits and struck out five batters to eclipse the century mark in strikeouts for the season with 102.
Dominic Petracca pitched a perfect 1.2 innings with one strikeout for his first career win as a Golden Knight. UCF's bullpen totaled 2.1 innings of hitless relief with three strikeouts.
The Golden Knights and Panthers continue the three-game series Saturday at 6 p.m. Live radio coverage begins at 5:45 p.m. on 740-AM The Team.
Game Notes: Drew Butera's double in the eighth extended his hitting streak to a career-high 14 games ... Tim Bascom is ninth in school history with 102 strikeouts this season ... he is just the eighth player in school history to record 100 strikeouts in one year ... Dee Brown moved into sole possession of fourth place in UCF career history with 173 runs scored.