March 18, 2008
Wednesday's Preview in PDF Format
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - Taking advantage of its opportunities, the No. 16 UCF baseball team pushed its record to 18-1 with a 5-1 triumph over Wagner Tuesday at Jay Bergman Field. The Knights stayed perfect at home with a mark of 17-0, and they recorded their 10-straight victory for the longest winning streak since 2004.
"I told the team that it was one of those things that we had to go out and play tonight, and it was not going to be easy on anybody," said head coach Jay Bergman about UCF playing Wagner after the Knight football team suffered a tragic loss with the passing of Ereck Plancher. "And it was not easy on the coaches as we are all part of the same family. It was difficult. I noticed there wasn't that normal bounce in the dugout."
While the Knights struggled to deal with Tuesday's events, they were still able to put together a solid victory over the Seahawks (4-5). Senior Dwayne Bailey improved his hitting streak to 10 games, while junior Caleb Graham hurled 5.0 shutout innings, striking out six to move his record to 1-1 on the year. Freshman Brennan Dobbins came on in relief to strike out six in 3.0 innings, and junior Justin Weiss finished it off in the ninth, adding a strikeout of his own.
For the fourth-straight game, UCF got on the board in the first inning. Bailey quickly took care of his hitting streak by sending a single to left against Kyle Morrison, and eventually reached third on a balk and a groundout. With two down, sophomore Shane Brown cranked a RBI base hit to right to give UCF the 1-0 lead.
Wagner did not have trouble getting runners on in the second and third innings, but each time Graham stalled the Seahawks' momentum. Following a scoreless fourth, junior Josh Siebenaler drove in classmate Chadd Hartman with a triple to deep right field, and Siebenaler came across on an error to bring the score to 3-0. However, Joe Conforti came through for a two-out RBI single in the sixth to help Wagner inch closer at 3-1.
The Knights, though, would not surrender the lead, and sewed it up in the bottom of the eighth. With two runners in scoring position and two down, junior Eric Kallstrom lined 1-0 pitch off Andrew Huebner back up the middle, scoring senior Tyson Auer and junior Nick Choto for the final 5-1 margin.
UCF's three-game series against Wagner wraps up Wednesday with first pitch slated for 6:30 p.m. It will then use Thursday as a travel day before opening Conference USA play at Southern Miss Friday-Sunday.
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 Notes
Wagner - 4-5 Overall, 0-0 Northeast Conference
No. 16 UCF - 18-1 Overall, 0-0 Conference USA
WP: Caleb Graham (1-1), 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 6 K
LP: Kyle Morrison (0-1), 7.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8 K
- UCF took a moment of silence before Tuesday's game in memory of Knights' football player Ereck Plancher, who passed away on Monday.
- The 18 victories are tied for the most in the country this season.
- UCF hitters struck out 10 times, marking the first time the UCF offense had at least 10 strikeouts.
- Wagner recorded its first hit in the series when Kevin McDonnell led off the second inning with a single through the left side.
- Shane Brown has now recorded at least one RBI in six-straight games. He also was hit by a pitch for the eighth time this year.
- Brennan Dobbins struck out all three batters he faced in the seventh with called third strikes.
- Junior Nick Choto swiped his first base at the Division I level with a steal of second in the eighth inning.
- UCF pitchers combined to strike out 13 batters in the victory.