May 11, 2007
Box Score in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Game Notes for Saturday, May 12
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Greenville, N.C. (www.ucfathletics.com) - Stephen Batts belted a three-run home run in the fifth that erased a 4-1 UCF lead, and No. 30 East Carolina went on to post an 8-6 victory Friday in Greenville, N.C. The Conference USA loss dropped the Knights' record to 5-14 in league play and 24-27 overall.
All of UCF's hitting streaks survived Friday vs. ECU (33-17, 11-7). Kiko Vazquez pushed his career-long effort to 13 with a 2-for-4 affair, which included his eighth homer of the season. Meanwhile, Ryan Richardson and Matt Horwath moved their respective strings to 10 outings and Tyson Auer extended his streak to eight games by cranking out two doubles. Also shining with the aluminum, Eric Kallstrom tied a career-high with three hits, highlighted by a two-out, two-run home run in the ninth, his third of the 2007 campaign.
In all, the Knights recorded double-digits hits (12) for the seventh-straight game, but went hitless from the sixth to the eighth innings.
Neither starter survived through five innings, as Jaager Good (4-5) and ECU's T.J. Hose went 4.1 innings and surrendered nine hits apiece. Bailey Daniels (3-1) got the win in relief for the Pirates, pitching 3.2 innings of one-hit ball.
After watching Hose work out of a two-out jam in the top of the first, ECU quickly put runners at the corners to get the bottom half going. A RBI fielder's choice by Ryan Tousley was all the Pirates could muster as Good got three-straight ground balls to escape with just the one run on the board. When the Knights returned to the plate in the second, Richardson and Kallstrom reached on a pair of singles and a two-out walk to Horwath loaded them up. But Hose picked up the third out on a grounder to second by Dwayne Bailey.
The Black and Gold tried again in the third and this time succeeded. Auer's second double of the evening set up the frame, and the center fielder scored the tying run on a single down the left-field line by Vazquez. The Knights eventually filled the bases one more time with two outs and Chadd Hartman provided them with a 2-1 lead on a single through the right side.
UCF wanted to stretch it even further in the fourth, picking up a leadoff walk and a balk to place Bailey at second. On a 1-1 pitch, Vazquez took the righty deep, sending a two-run job over the left-field wall for a 4-1 advantage. The momentum would be short-lived, as a three-run home run to Stephen Batts in the fifth tied it at 4-4. The dinger also extended Batts' hitting streak to 16 games. Later in the stanza and with reliever Austin Hudson on the mound, the Pirates added one more on a sacrifice fly from Kyle Roller to make it 5-4.
A Jake Dean RBI single in the seventh enabled ECU to plate its sixth run of the night. In the eighth, Corey Kemp made sure the lead would hold up, adding another on a RBI base hit of his own and Tousley connected for a run-scoring double for the Pirates' eighth run. The pair of runs proved beneficial for ECU, as Kallstrom drilled a two-run dinger over the fence in left with two down in the top of the ninth to cut the lead in half. But that was as close as the Knights would get in the 8-6 defeat.
Game two of C-USA series at ECU is slated for Saturday at 2 p.m. (originally scheduled for 6 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: Bailey Daniels (3-1), 3.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
LP: Jaager Good (4-5), 4.1 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
- UCF posted two runs on seven hits in the first three innings, but stranded eight runners in the process.
- The Pirates left a runner at third in both the third and fourth innings.
- T.J. Hose had 93 pitches through four innings, while Jaager Good had just 65 pitches through four frames.
- UCF's streak of seven-straight games with at least 10 hits is the longest since March 8-18, 2005 (also seven games).
- East Carolina led UCF in the hits department, 14-12.
- The Knights fell to 1-9 in Conference USA road games in 2007.
- Harrison Eldridge led the ECU offense, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored.