March 15, 2008
Game One Box Score in PDF Format
Game Two Box Score in PDF Format
Sunday's Preview in PDF Format
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - Junior righty Kyle Sweat tied a career-high with 8.0 innings pitched in game two and sophomore Shane Brown combined for five hits and scored six runs as the No. 20 UCF baseball team swept Siena in a doubleheader, 19-15 and 9-6, Saturday at Jay Bergman Field. The Knights have now won seven-straight to get their record to 15-1 on the year.
Sweat moved to 2-0 thanks to his outing in the night-cap against Siena (1-11), not walking a batter and striking out six. The two wins enabled the Knights to stay undefeated at home with a mark of 14-0, while their 15-1 start sets the Conference USA mark for best record by a team with one loss to open a year.
Game One Recap
Game one's 19-15 UCF win turned into the highest scoring affair that it had been a part of since April 10, 2001, when the Knights defeated USF 18-17 at Jay Bergman Field. Junior Eric Kallstrom recorded five RBI in the victory, while Brown scored a career-high four runs in a 3-for-4 performance.
The top of the first of game one proved to be trouble for the Knights once again, as Siena batted around against senior Jaager Good to take a 5-0 lead, capped off by a bases-loaded triple from Nick Messinger. Coincidently, UCF had a quick answer in the second against Craig Chaput, where Kallstrom banged out a triple of his own with the bases juiced to help the Knights make it 5-3. Kallstrom came within inches of a grand slam only to see his shot to left hit the top of the fence and bounce back onto the field.
After Siena made it 6-3 in the third, Brown drove in a pair in UCF's half, bringing in seniors Dwayne Bailey and Tyson Auer with a single to right-center. Later in the frame, junior Robert Lara drew a walk with the bags filled to tie it, and junior Josh Siebenaler nailed a clutch two-out single to right-center off reliever Ryan King to plate two more runners. To complete the scoring, Bailey singled home Lara for the ninth tally, and two fielding errors by King on the next play permitted UCF to bring around its seventh and eighth runs of the inning.
Each team traded runs with UCF adding one in the fourth and Siena posting another in the sixth. Senior Ryan Richardson's sac fly and a RBI groundout by Kallstrom in the sixth lifted the Knight lead to 14-7. They eventually batted around as Bailey was issued a bases-loaded walk and Auer collected a two-run single, making it 17-7. Somehow, the Saints would not go away and they tagged UCF pitching for six in the seventh and two in the eighth.
Now with just a 17-15 advantage, Kallstrom finally put it away on a solo homer to left in the eighth, his second of the year and 10th in a UCF uniform. Junior Chadd Hartman wrapped up the scoring with a two-out RBI double.
Game Two Recap
Brown was back at it in the night-cap, going 2-for-2 with two runs scored and a two-run homer. Junior Colin Arnold, sophomore Chris Duffy and Kallstrom each had two hits as well.
Auer's two-run homer in the bottom of the first off Matt Moberg got things started for the Knights in game two. It was the center fielder's first of 2008 and sixth in his career. The Knights busted out for three more in the third on an RBI single from Duffy, where a second run scored on a fielding error, and another RBI base hit by Richardson.
The offense did not go away in the fourth, as Brown hammered a two-run homer, his third dinger this year, to left-center for a 7-0 lead. A couple of hit by pitches then opened the sixth inning for the Black and Gold, which led to an RBI double off the bat of Duffy and sophomore Kyle Mills drove in the ninth run of the game on a groundout to first.
With the offense doing its work, Sweat faced the minimum three batters in five of the first six innings and surrendered a lone two-out single in the second during that stretch. The Saints were able to get a runner to third in just one inning until they ruined Sweat's shutout bid in the top of the ninth. They tried to mount a comeback by plating six runs in the final frame, however freshman Cody Allen came in from the pen to shut the door and notch his first collegiate save.
UCF and Siena pick up the action Sunday with the series finale slated for 1 p.m. The Knights then host Wagner Monday-Wednesday at Jay Bergman Field.
Season tickets as well as single-game tickets to check out UCF baseball this year are currently available by contacting the UCF Ticket Office at 407-823-1000, or by going online at www.ucfathletics.com, the official site for UCF varsity sports. Also check out UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.
Game One Notes
Siena - 1-10 Overall, 0-0 MAAC
No. 20 UCF - 14-1 Overall, 0-0 Conference USA
WP: Evan Stobbs (1-0), 3.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
LP: Craig Chaput (0-2), 2.2 IP, 4 H, 9 R, 9 ER, 6 BB, 1 K
SV: Justin Weiss (3), 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
- Eric Kallstrom's second-inning triple was his first three-bagger since the 2006 season, and the second of his career.
- Kallstrom went to the plate with the bases loaded in three-consecutive innings (second, third and fourth).
- The eight runs in the third inning was the most UCF scored in a single inning this year.
- Freshman Evan Stobbs picked off his first collegiate runner in the top of the fifth. It was UCF's ninth time in 2008 that it had picked off a runner.
- The Knights scored at least 17 runs in a game for the third time this season, the first time it had accomplished the feat since the 2005 campaign when UCF scored 17 or more runs seven times.
- Siena's 15 runs and 20 hits were the most by a UCF opponent this year.
- Colin Arnold's 14-game hitting streak came to an end in game one vs. Siena.
- UCF batters walked 13 times but struck out on just four occasions.
Game Two Notes
Siena - 1-11 Overall, 0-0 MAAC
No. 20 UCF - 15-1 Overall, 0-0 Conference USA
WP: Kyle Sweat (2-0), 8.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
LP: Matt Moberg (0-3), 5.0 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
SV: Cody Allen (1), 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
- Dwayne Bailey stretched his hitting streak to seven games, and has collected at least one hit in 15 of 16 outings.
- Tyson Auer and Colin Arnold each added stolen bases in the win, improving the Knights' overall total to 38.
- The Knights finished with 11 hits, marking the 14th game they had at least 10 hits on the scoreboard.
- Kyle Sweat has now pitched 8.0 innings in a game four times, with the last occurring in a win vs. Tulane in 2007.
- Knight pitchers did not issue a walk in the victory.
- Eric Kallstrom ended the night with a combined four hits, including a double, triple and homer.