March 17, 2006
ORLANDO - Junior pitcher Tim Bascom registered a season-high 14 strikeouts to lead host UCF past Siena 16-5 Friday evening at Jay Bergman Field. Bascom fanned a career-high 17 batters in a winning effort last season vs. Siena and has totaled 26 strikeouts in his last two starts.
Bascom moved to 3-1 on the season as he held Siena to two runs on five hits. The Dunedin native shut down a Siena offense that produced 18 runs in two games earlier in the week at No. 5 Tennessee.
Freshman shortstop Eric Kallstrom recorded career-highs in hits (three) and RBI (six) to lead UCF's 15-hit attack.
"Coach Wolfe worked really hard with Eric this week to make some adjustments with his swing and it really showed up tonight," stated UCF head coach Jay Bergman following the game. "On the mound, Tim is really locked in right now and it showed tonight."
Siena (2-11) looked to have a big inning started in the first as the Saints loaded the bases without any outs. After a strikeout and groundout, Eric Hildenbrand walked to force in the first run of the contest. Bascom struggled with his control in the opening frame, issuing two walks and yielding two infield hits. Bascom regained his control to finish off the frame with his second strikeout to work out of the jam.
UCF (11-10) answered quickly in the bottom of the first on one swing when freshman DH Steve Stropp launched a three-run home run with two outs to give UCF a 3-1 lead. It was the third, three-run homer of the season for Stropp as he increased his team-leading RBI total to 16.
Freshman right fielder Dave DiNatale tripled to leadoff the second inning and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Kallstrom to give UCF a 4-1 advantage.
Siena responded with one run in the fourth on a RBI-double by Hildenbrand to cut the UCF lead in half, 4-2.
Junior second baseman Matt Horwath singled to start the fourth and later scored on a RBI-single by sophomore center fielder Tyson Auer. Auer scored UCF's fourth two-out run of the night on a wild pitch to give UCF a 6-2 lead.
UCF broke the game open with four runs in the sixth to lead 10-2. UCF used five hits in the frame, including a RBI-single by Kallstrom and a two-run single by senior catcher Ryan Bono.
UCF scored another run in the seventh and five in the eighth while Siena added one run in the eighth and two in the ninth to close out the scoring at 16-5.
The two teams resume their three-game series Saturday evening at Jay Bergman Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
Game Notes: UCF is 23-2 all-time vs. Siena ... Steve Stropp leads UCF with 16 RBI, despite starting in only nine of UCF's 21 games ... Stropp extended his hitting streak to five games with the homer ... UCF's grounds crew celebrated St. Patrick's Day by using green bases Friday evening at Jay Bergman Field ... Tim Bascom finished with 14 strikeouts, the sixth time in his career he has recorded 10-plus strikeouts in a game ... Three Golden Knight pitchers combined for a season-high 18 strikeouts.