May 4, 2007
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Game Notes for Saturday, May 5
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Memphis, Tenn. (www.ucfathletics.com) - Kiko Vazquez (Sebring, Fla.) and Chris Duffy (Orlando, Fla.) connected for back-to-back home runs in the sixth inning at Memphis Friday, which helped the UCF baseball team erase a 5-1 deficit in a 9-6 Conference USA victory. Vazquez finished with a pair of two-run homers for his second multi-home run game of 2007.
Vazquez and Duffy crushed consecutive homers for UCF (23-24 overall, 5-11 C-USA) for the first time since May 6, 2005, when Dee Brown and John-Michael Howell accomplished the feat at Troy. Vazquez's two blasts against Memphis (27-18, 9-7) were the sixth and seventh of his sophomore season, while Duffy's rocket was his fourth of his freshman campaign.
Vazquez also extended his personal-best hitting streak to nine games thanks to a 3-for-4 affair. Meanwhile, Matt Horwath and Ryan Richardson both moved their respective hitting streaks to six outings, and Tyson Auer lit up the plate with three hits and two RBI. On the hill, UCF starter Jaager Good (4-4) had some early troubles as the Tigers scored in each of the first three innings. But he did not give up a run the rest of the way, concluding his night with 6.0 innings pitched and seven strikeouts for the victory.
With the fence in left only 318 feet down the line and 360 feet to the alley, Michael Murray was quick to send a solo shot just barely over the wall in the first inning to give Memphis a 1-0 lead. That did not seem to affect Good as he struck out the next two batters.
A leadoff walk to Vazquez by Memphis starter Ben Grisham in the second gave UCF something to work with. Duffy continued to hit the ball well when he made his first appearance at the plate. On the first pitch he saw, Duffy lined a hard shot to left field where Tyler Huelsing saw it drop out of his outstretched glove and the two-base error put runners at second and third with nobody out. Richardson then did his job of going the other way, sending a sacrifice fly to right field to permit Vazquez to tie it up.
However, two one-out doubles gave the Tigers the lead again in the bottom half. They tried to score even more with two on, two outs and K.K. Chalmers at the dish, but Auer ruined that bid with a spectacular leaping catch in center. Although Good was getting to two strikes on almost every batter, the Tigers still managed to load them up in the third with one down and came away with three more runs for a 5-1 cushion.
With two down in the top of the sixth, the Knights had only two hits for the game against Grisham. That was when the Knights appeared to have solved the right-hander, and it was only a matter of time before the Black and Gold took advantage of the short porch that surrounds Memphis' field. Auer kicked off the rally by singling to right, and Vazquez jumped on the first pitch for a two-run homer off the scoreboard in left-center. Duffy following by stroking a 0-1 pitch over the center-field wall, about 380 feet away, to make it 5-4.
After the consecutive jacks from Vazquez and Duffy, Richardson wanted to keep the inning going and ripped a single through the left side. A throwing error on a pickoff attempt from Grisham enabled Richardson to race all of the way to third, and Eric Kallstrom brought him home with another base hit through the left side.
Memphis brought in Dusty Davis (5-2) to begin the seventh, and Horwath greeted the southpaw with a one-out single. Dwayne Bailey then laid down a perfect bunt for an infield single and the throw from third baseman Kyle Norrid went into the right-field corner, pushing both runners to second and third. Auer provided the Knights with their first lead of the night, sending a two-run single up the middle.
Now trailing by two, the Tigers stormed back in the bottom of the eighth with a run off the UCF pen. They came within inches of tying it in the stanza when they had runners at the corners and two down. Knight closer Justin Weiss got to 0-2 vs. Bill Moss, only to pick off Murray at first. As the infield got a rundown going, Tyler Huelsing tried to steal home. Kallstrom fired to Shane Brown behind the plate, who blocked it with his left foot and laid the tag down to keep UCF ahead.
Vazquez made sure that was as close Memphis would get. Similar to the sixth inning, Auer notched a two-out single to get aboard in the ninth and Vazquez added the insurance by sending his second four-bagger over the left-center wall for the final 9-6 margin. Weiss shut the door in the bottom half, striking out the side to complete his seventh save.
UCF's three-game series at Memphis continues Saturday with first pitch slated for 5 p.m. ET. 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: Jaager Good (4-4), 6.0 IP, 10 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
LP: Dusty Davis (5-2), 3.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
SV: Justin Weiss (7), 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
- Friday marked the first game between the Knights and Tigers in Memphis. The only other time the two programs met came last year, a three-game set in Orlando.
- UCF's game vs. Memphis started a seven-game road trip, the Knights' longest of the season.
- Matt Horwath posted at least two hits and a run scored for the sixth-straight game.
- Tyson Auer now has seven RBI in his last three outings.
- Jaager Good's last eight starts have all gone 5.0 innings or more.
- In his last seven appearances, Justin Weiss has not allowed a single run and just two hits.
- Memphis recorded 14 hits, led by Michael Murray and Josh Irvin, who each had three.
- The Black and Gold finished with 12 hits, as the top four hitters combined to go 9-for-18 with six RBI and seven runs scored.
- UCF left only five runners on base. Memphis left nine aboard.
- Sunday's finale was moved up from 2 p.m. ET to 1 p.m. ET due to travel concerns.