April 3, 2007
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Tampa, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - UCF baseball's longest road trip thus far this season (five games) wrapped up Tuesday in an 11-4 loss in Tampa to USF. The Knights moved to 16-17 on the year, and they will return to Conference USA action against Southern Miss this weekend at Jay Bergman Field.
Ryan Richardson entered the evening with a streak of eight-straight times that he had reached base, and extended it to 10 with two singles before grounding out to third base in the sixth inning. UCF's Odie Koehnke once held the NCAA record with 17-straight times on base during the 1985 season, which currently ranks second all-time. On the mound, sophomore Eric English (1-1) made his second start of the year, and picked up the loss in 3.2 innings of work, striking out five.
While the Knights were unable to score in the first after two two-out singles, the Bulls (23-9) put runners at the corners with one down in the bottom half in hopes of grabbing the early lead. English buckled down and on a 2-2 pitch, forced Dexter Butler to ground into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play. UCF and USF both had another chance to get on the board in the second. In the top half, Richardson, who led-off the inning with a single, was eventually stranded at third, and the Bulls left two runners at first and second in the bottom half.
Richardson came back in the fourth, sending a two-out single up the middle, swiped his eighth base of the season and reached third on an infield base hit off the bat of Shane Brown. USF starter Matt Quevedo (3-0) escaped, but barely as Eric Kallstrom blasted a sharp line drive right to Butler at second base.
After each team was picking up scoring chances, the Bulls finally converted in the bottom of the fourth. Addison Maruszak was beaned by a pitch to get it started, promptly stole second and scored on a RBI single by Nick Cardieri. Two more runs later, Ty Taborelli forced English to the dugout by ripping a two-out, two-run single to right field. Austin Hudson came on and the Knights got out of the frame by nabbing Taborelli trying to steal.
Tyson Auer took matters into his own hands in the sixth, sending a leadoff double down the left-field line, stole his C-USA leading 16th base and touched home on the play as the throw from catcher Braulio Pardo was errant. The Knights ran Quevedo out of the game in the seventh, loading them up off an error, walk and hit by pitch. Matt Horwath helped UCF inch closer on a sacrifice fly to left to plate Brown. James Rowe did get the second out, but Shawn Sanford, USF's closer, surrendered a RBI base hit up the middle by Auer to make it 5-3. Kiko Vazquez filled the bases on a single to right center, only to see Sanford survive by picking up a ground out to second to end the frame.
USF put the game out of reach when it returned to the plate in the bottom half, getting the first two runners on off reliever Mitch Herold. Justin Weiss took the hill and the Bulls managed to bring six across to stretch the lead to 11-3. A bases-loaded walk to Chadd Hartman in the eighth inning gave UCF one more run for the final 11-4 margin.
The Knights are back home for a three-game C-USA set against Southern Miss this weekend. Game one gets underway Friday at 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: Matt Quevedo (3-0), 6.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
LP: Eric English (1-1), 3.2 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
- Tuesday was the first of three games between UCF and USF. The Knights return to Tampa April 17, while the Bulls make the trip to Orlando April 24.
- Tyson Auer moved his season-long hitting streak to eight games with an infield single in the first.
- Austin Hudson completed his relief outing by pitching 2.1 innings of scoreless ball, striking out four.
- The Knights used six pitchers in the loss to the Bulls.
- USF concluded its victory with a 15-12 advantage in the hit column.