May 5, 2007
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Game Notes for Sunday, May 6
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Memphis, Tenn. (www.ucfathletics.com) - The UCF baseball team could not hold on to a 2-0 lead Saturday as Memphis came away with a 7-3 Conference USA victory at Nat Buring Stadium. The loss ended a four-game C-USA winning streak for the Knights, and dropped their record to 5-12 in league play (23-25 overall).
Matt Horwath's hitting streak moved to seven games by posting at least two hits for the seventh-straight game, the longest such streak since Dee Brown had eight-consecutive multi-hit outings March 27-April 6, 2002. Horwath went 2-for-5 with a run scored vs. the Tigers. Meanwhile, Ryan Richardson also extended his streak to seven contests with a single in the second inning, and Kiko Vazquez kept his alive as well by notching a single in the fifth to push it to 10 games.
Kyle Sweat (4-4) made the start for the Black and Gold and was lights out through the first five innings. But he surrendered four runs in the sixth against Memphis (28-18, 10-7 C-USA), finishing with four strikeouts in 6.0 innings of work.
UCF was the first to have a decent scoring opportunity, putting two runners on with one down in the second only to see Memphis starter Scott McGregor (5-2) earn an inning-ending double play. The Knights tried again in the third. With Chadd Hartman at first and one out, Horwath smacked a single the opposite way with Hartman running, which allowed UCF to earn runners at the corners. After falling behind 0-2, Dwayne Bailey placed a 2-2 pitch into right center to help the Knights jump out to a 1-0 lead.
The Knights scored six of their nine runs with two outs in game one, and continued that trend in the fifth. With Horwath at third and Auer at first, Vazquez drilled a single off the left-field wall to increase the advantage to 2-0.
Sweat had allowed just two baserunners through four innings, one on a hit by pitch and the other on a free pass. Adam Amar was the first to put a hit on the board with a leadoff single in the fifth. Memphis did notch two hits in that inning but could not get anything across against the righty. However, the Tigers did manage to cut the lead in half thanks to a Bill Moss RBI single in the sixth. Amar followed with a two-out double to score Moss and just like that, it was all square at 2-2. That did not last long, though, as Joey Lieberman crushed a two-run homer over the trees in left for Memphis' first lead of the day.
Memphis rode its momentum into the bottom of the seventh, where it scored three off the UCF bullpen to seal the victory. UCF attempted a rally in the eighth when Vazquez walked and Chris Duffy doubled to get it started. All the Knights could muster, though, was a sacrifice fly by Eric Kallstrom for the final 7-3 margin.
The series with Memphis concludes Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 1 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: Scott McGregor (5-2), 7.0 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
LP: Kyle Sweat (4-4), 6.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
- With 10 hits, UCF has now posted double-digit hits in six of the last seven games.
- Kiko Vazquez became the second UCF player this year to have a hitting streak of at least 10 games. Tyson Auer posted the longest streak since 2004 when he notched a hit in 15 straight from March 24-April 21.
- Matt Horwath has scored at least one run in seven-straight contests.
- UCF out-hit Memphis, 10-9, marking only the third time this year the Knights lost a game when they recorded more hits than their opponent.
- Each of Kyle Sweat's last five starts have all lasted 6.0 innings or more.
- Chris Duffy, Brandon Romans and Matt Horwath each had two hits Saturday.
- Mitch Herold struck out one in a scoreless eighth inning out of the pen.