April 4, 2006
TAMPA - Freshman southpaw Mitch Houck limited host USF to just four hits en route to an 11-0 victory for UCF Tuesday evening at Red McEwen Field. Houck tossed his first career complete game shutout and the first complete game for the Golden Knights in 2006.
Houck (2-1) fanned eight and walked just one batter to become the first UCF (19-13) freshman to toss a complete game shutout since Taylor Meier went the distance to blank the Bulls (14-16) 6-0 in May of 2004.
In his last two starts, Houck has pitched 17 innings and yielded just five hits with 19 strikeouts.
Senior catcher Ryan Bono provided the offensive spark for the Golden Knights, going 4-for-5 with four RBI and two runs scored to pace UCF's 16-hit attack.
Senior designated hitter Dave Lambert started the second inning with a solo home run to right-center field to give UCF a 1-0 lead.
UCF scored four runs in the third, including a towering, three-run home run by freshman first baseman Kiko Vazquez to extend the lead to 5-0.
Bono collected his third hit and third RBI of the night with a two-run double in the seventh to give the Golden Knights a 7-0 lead. Freshman pinch hitter Steve Stropp followed with a RBI-single up the middle to plate Bono to pad the lead to 8-0.
UCF used five straight singles in the eighth to expand the lead to 11-0.
The Golden Knights return to action Friday vs. East Carolina in their first C-USA series at Jay Bergman Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
Game Notes: Dave Lambert hit his first home run since May 21, 2004 at Georgia State ... Matt Ray stole two bases on the night to move into a tie for fourth place in UCF history with 70 career stolen bases. He is tied with Tim Boeth (1998-99) in the UCF annals.