March 7, 2007
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Orlando, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - A night after Carmine Giardina recorded the best outing by a UCF starter this year, Brett Bordwine had a career night on the mound vs. Northeastern. The junior struck out 14 batters in just 6.2 innings and did not allow a run in a 5-2 Golden Knight (8-9) victory Wednesday over the Huskies (3-2). Bordwine's previous career-high was six strikeouts set last season.
"This ranks up there," said Bordwine (1-0) on if this was his best start of his career. "I got off to a shaky start because I got out of my mechanics a little bit. Coach (Craig) Cozart came out there and just told me to relax and everything else took care of itself."
Bordwine's 14 strikeouts were the most by a UCF pitcher since March 5, 2005, when Tim Bascom struck out 17, and the last time a Knight had 14 strikeouts was Feb. 27, 2004, by Matt Fox. Bordwine allowed only two hits through six innings before surrendering two in the seventh. His outing of 6.2 innings matched his career-mark set against Rice last season (April 30).
Offensively, Chadd Hartman went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, extending his hitting streak to eight games. The left fielder also swiped two bases, tying a personal-best he set earlier in the year. Kiko Vazquez also shined, driving in three runs to boost his season total to 18. As a freshman last year, the first baseman finished with 21 RBI.
Bordwine had some trouble locating the strike zone in the top of the first, walking the first two Huskies he faced. The righty quickly settled down against Mike Tamsin, striking out the left fielder for the first out and with the runners going on the pitch, catcher Brandon Romans fired to third baseman Shane Brown for the strike-him-out-throw-him-out double play. Bordwine picked up the final out on a pop-up on the infield. The two walks issued to begin the frame ended up being his only two free passes of the night. In the second, Bordwine did give up a leadoff single only to strike out six-straight Huskies, giving him seven in just three innings of work.
UCF finally had its first scoring chance in the bottom of the fourth but was robbed by right fielder Anthony DiCesare. With Hartman at second and only one away, Vazquez sent a shot down the right-field line. DiCesare had a good jump on it, made a diving snag and was able to double-up Hartman to end the inning. The Knights kept trying against Northeastern starter Sheldon McDonald, and ultimately took a 1-0 lead in the fifth. Following a one-out walk to Brown and a stolen base, Matt Horwath delivered by lining a 3-2 pitch into left for the RBI single.
Even though he just had a hit taken away from him, Vazquez returned to the plate in the sixth and provided UCF with a 3-0 advantage. Facing a 1-2 count, two outs and runners at second and third, Vazquez placed a two-run single into center, scoring Hartman and Tyson Auer.
While he was being productive at the plate, Vazquez's defense kept UCF on top by three in the seventh. After Bordwine struck out his final batter and got the second out of the seventh, he allowed two base hits, and with his pitch count at 99, took a seat in the dugout in favor of reliever Eric English. An immediate walk loaded the bases, however Brendan Stokes popped a 2-2 pitch into foul territory and Vazquez made a diving catch to end the Husky threat. Horwath supplied UCF with another run in the seventh, notching a base hit, advancing two bases on a wild pitch by Charly Bashara and scored on the second wild pitch of the frame.
Vazquez was not done in the eighth, cranking a RBI double to right center, plating Romans from second to boost the lead to 5-0. A two-out, two-run homer by Frank Pesanello in the ninth spoiled the shutout, but the Golden Knights easily held on for the victory.
The Knights will take a day off before hosting Massachusetts for a three-game set this weekend. The series kicks off Friday at Jay Bergman Field with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 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: Brett Bordwine (1-0), 6.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 14 K
LP: Sheldon McDonald (0-1), 6.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
- Tyson Auer stole his 11th base of the season in the win.
- UCF's top three hitters in the lineup (Tyson Auer, Chadd Hartman and Kiko Vazquez) each had two hits on the evening.
- Matt Horwath finished with a 2-for-3 affair, driving in one and scoring a run.
- After leaving double-digit totals on base the last four games, the Black and Gold left only three runners on against Northeastern.
- UCF posted its second-straight game without an error. The last time the Knights accomplished the feat was in all three games of the Troy series, May 6-8, 2005.