March 17, 2007
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Game Notes for Sunday, March 18
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Orlando, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - The UCF baseball team was unable to pull off another comeback Saturday, as Rutgers came away with a 4-3 victory at Jay Bergman Field. With the loss, the Golden Knights (13-10) had their seven-game winning streak come to an end, while the Scarlet Knights improved their record to 7-9.
UCF starting pitcher Mitch Houck (1-4) completed his outing with eight strikeouts over 6.1 innings, giving up four runs on four hits. Derek Abriola was solid in relief, pitching 2.2 scoreless innings and striking out four. With the stick, Eric Kallstrom was 2-for-4 with two RBI, but it was not enough as the Black and Gold lost its first one-run game of the season.
"You get into a close game like that and you will have one or two situations that you have to score," said head coach Jay Bergman. "We had second and third with one out (in the fifth and did not score) and I thought that was the key part of the game for us offensively."
A first-inning leadoff walk paved the way for Rutgers to take a 3-0 lead before UCF even stepped to the plate. After two singles brought in the first run, a Frank Meade sacrifice fly and a double-steal attempt provided the Scarlet Knights with their third run. UCF then took advantage of a two-out error in the second, as Kallstrom notched a RBI single off Steve Healing through the left side to plate Brandon Romans.
While the starters controlled the action in the third and fourth innings, the Golden Knights tried to even it at 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth. Ryan Richardson got it going with an infield single, and after he reached second on a controversial stolen base, Kallstrom sent a 0-2 pitch into center field to plate the right fielder. UCF eventually put two runners in scoring position with one out but could not get the key hit it needed. The Black and Gold also had the tying runner at second with two down in the sixth yet still failed to capitalize.
Houck reached the seventh inning before venturing to the dugout with one down and two aboard. Abriola entered and Rutgers found a way to make it 4-2. With pinch-hitter Victor Cegles at the plate, he blasted a pitch up the middle that Kallstrom snagged from his shortstop position and fired to first. Cegles beat out the throw, and pinch-runner Donny Callahan came all the way around from second to score on the play. Abriola did pick up the final outs to keep the Rutgers lead at two runs.
In the bottom of the seventh, Dwayne Bailey crushed a one-out pitch that went about three feet in front of home plate, and still managed to use his speed to get on. Thanks to a wild pitch and stolen base, Bailey advanced to third and scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Tyson Auer, cutting it to 4-3. Healing then gave up back-to-back walks and was replaced by reliever Kevin Lillis, who struck out Romans on a 3-2 pitch to get out of the jam.
UCF went quietly in the eighth and ninth as Kevin Lillis pitched the final 2.1 innings for Rutgers to earn the save.
Sunday marks the conclusion of the three-game series between the two programs. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m. at Jay Bergman Field. For the latest news and information on the Golden Knights, tickets or apparel log on to www.ucfathletics.com - the official site for UCF athletics.
Game Notes
WP: Steve Healing (2-2), 6.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
LP: Mitch Houck (1-4), 6.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 8 K
SV: Kevin Lillis (1), 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
- Houck tossed 108 pitches in his start, racking up 58 strikes.
- With three steals, UCF has stolen at least one base in 14-straight games.
- Kiko Vazquez went 0-for-3, ending his seven-game hitting streak.
- Rutgers concluded its victory by out-hitting UCF, 6-5.
- Tyson Auer stretched his stolen base mark to 14, which is tops in Conference USA.
- With the win, Rutgers head coach Fred Hill recorded his 900th career victory.