May 8, 2005
Troy, Ala. - Troy designated hitter Nick Smith was 3-for-4 with three RBI to lead the host Trojans to an 8-4 victory over UCF Sunday at Riddle-Pace Field in Troy, Ala. The win secured the series victory for Troy and extended the Trojans lead to three games over the Golden Knights in the A-Sun standings. With the series loss, UCF dropped back-to-back series for the first time since 2003.
Troy jumped out to a 7-1 lead after four innings of play and used three home runs to defeat the Golden Knights. Steven Morelock (5-3) held UCF to four runs on eight hits in 5.0 innings of work for the victory. Tony Falls pitched four perfect innings of relief with seven strikeouts for his second save.
Dee Brown gave UCF a 1-0 lead in the third on a RBI-single down the line in right to score Tyson Auer. The RBI was Brown's seventh of the series and tied him with Bobby Kiser for second in UCF career history with 213 RBI.
Troy responded quickly in the bottom of the third as Clint Robinson hit a two-run home run down the line in right to give the Trojans a 2-1 advantage. The two-out rally continued as Taylor Cobb walked Jared Keel to force in Troy's third run of the afternoon.
The Trojans continued using the long ball in the fourth as Bryan Madril connected on a solo shot - Troy's seventh home run of the series - to hand the Trojans a 4-1 lead. Troy built the lead to 7-1 on Smith's two-run homer later in the inning as the Trojans scored three, two-out runs in the frame to knock Cobb out of the game.
Two doubles and a Troy error led to two UCF runs in the fifth. Tyson Auer doubled and scored a run while Matt Horwath used a RBI-double to pull the Golden Knights to within four at 7-3.
The Golden Knights started the sixth with three consecutive singles, including a RBI-base hit off the bat of Chandler Rose to close the gap to 7-4. Troy turned to its bullpen following Rose's RBI-single and Falls got a strikeout and two pop outs to work out of the jam.
Troy made the score 8-4 in the sixth as Smith continued his big day with a two-out, RBI-single.
UCF returns to Jay Bergman Field for its final three-game home series of the season next weekend vs. Georgia State. Game one of the series begins Friday at 6 p.m.
Game Notes: UCF held Troy center fielder Adam Godwin without a stolen base over the three-game series ... the nation's leader in steals, Godwin (69-for-77) was 0-for-2 in stolen base attempts Sunday, thrown out both times by Drew Butera ... Dee Brown moved into a tie for second place in UCF history with 213 career RBI ... Brown is tied with former UCF standout Bobby Kiser (1987-90) in the UCF annals ... Vince Zawaski (1985-88) holds the school record with 221 career RBI ... For the first time in 22 career appearances, UCF reliever Matt Rhodes walked more than one batter ... Rhodes walk two Trojans and struck out three in 1.1 innings of work.