March 23, 2007
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Game Notes for Saturday, March 24
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Orlando, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - After playing 24-straight non-conference games, the UCF baseball team began its portion of the Conference USA schedule Friday with a 10-2 loss to Houston at Jay Bergman Field. The Cougars (12-12, 1-0) took a 5-0 lead in the first inning and did not look back as the Knights fell to 14-11 on the season and 0-1 in league play.
Houston's Aaron Brown (3-1) shut UCF's top of the order down, holding the first five batters hitless in the game. Eric Kallstrom did notch two hits for the Black and Gold while also scoring a run, and Tyson Auer stole his league-leading 15th base in the loss. Reliever Kyle Maulbetsch pitched 3.0 scoreless innings for the Knights, giving up just one hit and earning one strikeout.
Junior Brett Bordwine (2-1) got the start for UCF, but had some early troubles in the first. The right-hander gave up three singles, four walks and a hit by pitch to let Houston jump out to a 5-0 advantage before the Knights even had a turn to bat. That would be the only inning Bordwine would pitch, as Austin Hudson took over in the second.
Hudson did get through the second and third without having a blemish on the scoreboard, only to put runners at the corners with nobody down in the top of the fourth. Dustin Kingsbury then stretched the lead to 6-0 with a RBI single to right, and Bryan Tully pushed it to 7-0 on a RBI single through the left side. The Cougars added an unearned run to leave the fourth up, 8-0.
Two errors helped Houston reach double-figures in the fifth as it went ahead, 10-0. While the Cougar offense was rolling along, so was Brown. The 6-foot-6 righty only gave up a single in the second and the fourth before reaching the seventh.
It was on Brown's 100th pitch of the game that UCF finally got on the board. After Ryan Richardson got on thanks to a two-out single, Kallstrom sent pitch No. 100 to right field for a single. Tully, however, misplayed it to allow Kallstrom to travel to third and Richardson to slide home safely. Dwayne Bailey pushed the second run across by ripping a single up the middle that Ryan Lormand snagged at second, but by the time he gloved it Bailey was already on first.
The two unearned runs would be all UCF could muster out of Brown, as Barry Laird pitched a perfect ninth to seal the Houston victory.
Game two of the three-game series gets underway at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, while the finale is set for Sunday at 1 p.m. 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: Aaron Brown (3-1), 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
LP: Brett Bordwine (2-1), 1.0 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 1 K
- Tyson Auer's six-game hitting streak came to an end.
- Eric Kallstrom did extend his hitting streak to six games. UCF has now had six different players post hitting streaks of at least six contests.
- Friday night marked the first weekend start for Brett Bordwine.
- Before Friday, UCF was 9-1 in its last 10 conference openers. With the loss, the Knights fell to 16-8 all-time in league-opening games.