April 16, 2006
METAIRIE, La. - No. 23 Tulane used four runs in the sixth inning to pull away from visiting UCF, 7-6, in Conference USA action on Sunday afternoon at Zephyr Field. The Golden Knights fall to 21-18 and 4-5 in league play with the loss.
Tulane (23-14, 5-8) senior center fielder Nathan Southard opened the sixth inning with a home run to center off of UCF freshman left-handed pitcher Mitch Herold to break a 3-3 tie. After allowing a single to junior designated hitter Mark Hamilton, Herold (1-4) was lifted in favor of junior righty Derek Abriola.
Abriola allowed a pair of infield singles to load the bases and then sophomore shortstop Cat Everett singled to plate Hamilton. The hosts added two more runs in the inning, with the final run coming on a wild pitch from senior right-hander Dominic Petracca.
The hosts claimed the series with the Golden Knights, winning two of three games.
UCF threatened in the ninth inning and cut the Tulane edge to 7-6 when freshman shortstop Eric Kallstrom drove in a pair of runs with a shallow single to center field off of junior right-hander Daniel Latham. Latham settled down, retiring the next three batters to earn the save.
Hamilton tied the game at three in fourth, belting a two-run home run off of Herold over the fence in center field. Hamilton scored Tulane's first run of the game in the second inning when he scored on a ground out by freshman third baseman Seth Henry.
UCF opened the game with one run in each of the first three innings. Junior designated hitter Matt Horwath started the scoring stretch, hitting a towering home run to left field in the first off of senior right-hander Billy Mohl. The following inning, freshman right fielder Chadd Hartman scored on a sacrifice fly by freshman third baseman Kiko Vazquez.
Mohl improved to 5-0 with the win. He pitched seven innings and allowed three earned runs and seven hits.
Junior second baseman Matt Ray tripled to the right field corner to leadoff the third inning. He gave the Golden Knights a 3-1 advantage when he scored on a ground out by freshman center fielder Dave DiNatale.
DiNatale went 2-for-4 on the day and scored a run in the eighth when senior catcher Ryan Bono singled to center field.
The Golden Knights return home to begin an eight-game homestand Tuesday. UCF hosts in-state rival USF on Tuesday evening at 6:30 p.m. The game will be aired live on the UCF ISP Sports Network and its flagship station, 740-THE TEAM AM.
Game Notes: Matt Horwath's home run on Sunday was his second in as many days... Kiko Vazquez started at third base for the second-consecutive game... Dave DiNatale had a pair of doubles on Sunday, giving him 14 for the season. He hit four doubles during the series with the Green Wave... Ryan Williams had three hits and two doubles in the losing effort... Eric Kallstrom totaled seven RBI in the series.