May 14, 2006
ORLANDO - Playing in his final home game, senior catcher Ryan Bono finished 3-for-4 with a RBI, but visiting Memphis came away with an 11-3 victory to clinch the Conference USA series sweep Sunday afternoon at Jay Bergman Field. Bono doubled in his final at-bat at home, his 214th career hit, to move into a tie for 10th place in UCF history in career hits.
Bono also moved into a tie for 10th place in career RBI with one run batted in Sunday vs. the Tigers.
Despite the strong showing by Bono, the Tigers continued their offensive ways vs. the Golden Knights. Memphis scored 41 runs in the three-game sweep, including 11 Sunday on 14 hits.
The Tigers moved to 27-25 overall with the win and 10-11 in league play while the Golden Knights dropped to 23-30 and 5-16 in C-USA.
Memphis starter Ben Grisham (1-2) worked six innings and allowed just two unearned runs for his first win of the season. The right-hander struck out five and walked two for the Tigers.
Freshman right-hander Kyle Sweat (3-4) was tagged with the loss for UCF. Sweat surrendered six runs on nine hits in five innings.
UCF jumped out to a 2-1 lead after one inning of play, marking the third straight game in the series UCF led after the first inning. Memphis responded with single runs in the second and third before a four-run sixth and three-run seventh put the game out of reach.
Five Tigers recorded multi-hit games, including a 3-for-4 day with two RBI and two runs scored from center fielder K.K. Chalmers.
Despite 10 hits, UCF stranded 11 runners on base. In addition, the Golden Knights were just 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position.
Bono led UCF offensively with three hits while junior third baseman Matt Ray was 2-for-5 with a run scored and freshman designated hitter Steve Stropp added a pair of singles for the Golden Knights.
UCF closes out the regular season next week at Southern Miss. The three-game series in Hattiesburg begins Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
Game Notes: Matt Ray moved into a tie for third place in UCF history with his 76th career stolen base Sunday vs. the Tigers ... Ray is tied with former All-American Clay Timpner (2002-04) for third in the UCF annals.