March 8, 2006
ORLANDO - Freshman southpaw Mitch Houck fired six shutout innings and limited Penn to just two hits as UCF rolled past the Quakers 9-2 Wednesday afternoon at Jay Bergman Field. Houck finished with a career-high seven strikeouts en route to his first career victory.
"That was encouraging that Mitch (Houck) came out and gave us six strong innings," stated UCF head coach Jay Bergman. "He is doing a much better job as a starting pitcher than coming out of the bullpen. He is starting to pitch with some confidence."
Houck was in control all afternoon long as he threw 76 pitches in six innings of work. The Golden Knights (7-9) spotted Houck four runs in the second and single runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings for a comfortable 7-0 lead.
In the four-run second, UCF totaled four hits, including RBI-singles by junior infielder Matt Ray and junior second baseman Matt Horwath.
Penn (0-5) avoided the shutout with two runs in the seventh before UCF scored a pair of runs in the eighth on a two-run single by senior first baseman Dave Lambert.
Freshman right fielder Shane Ynclan was 2-for-4 with a RBI and run scored as UCF finished the contest with 10 hits. Ray and Lambert also had two hits each for the victors.
The Golden Knights resume their eight-game homestand Saturday evening vs. Wagner. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Jay Bergman Field.