March 19, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - The No. 16 UCF baseball team will head into Conference USA play with a 19-1 record after defeating Wagner, 9-3, Wednesday at Jay Bergman Field. The victory ensured the Knights of their fifth-straight three-game series sweep, a feat they had not accomplished since the 1995 season, while it also stretched their winning streak to 11 games.
UCF delivered Knight fans with four home runs in the victory over the Seahawks (4-6), including two by junior catcher Brandon Romans, which was his first multi-homer game of his career in a Black and Gold uniform. He eventually finished with three hits to tie a career-high. Making his first collegiate start, sophomore Matt Goodyear (1-0) notched the win by going 4.0 innings with five strikeouts. The righty was on a pitch count, so he was able to get the victory even though he did not last 5.0 innings.
Wagner was able to tally one unearned run in the top of the first, but UCF picked up a run of its own in the bottom half. On a 1-2 pitch with two down against lefty Joe Testa, senior Tyson Auer drilled a solo homer to left-center. It was the center fielder's second of the year and seventh of his career.
The Seahawks came right back in the third with a RBI double off the bat of Jon Lucas. That was when sophomore Chris Duffy took matters into his own hands in the fourth. With a runner on and two down, Duffy lined the first pitch he saw over the right-field fence for his third of the season and first since Feb. 25. The next inning, the long ball returned when Romans led off the fifth with a shot that hugged the left-field foul pole.
UCF finally scored a run without going yard in the sixth, earning a two-out RBI double from senior Ryan Richardson. However, Romans wasted little time in producing his second homer, hammering the first pitch of the seventh inning into the UCF bullpen in right for a 6-2 lead.
Following a sac fly from Wagner in its half of the eighth, the Knights sealed the win in its half with three more runs. Freshman Evan Stobbs got things going with a single, reach second on groundout and then third on a fly ball to right. Junior Eric Kallstrom brought Stobbs around on a single to left, and he came across later in the inning on a hard single from sophomore Kyle Mills. The final run was put on the board on a Brian Miller wild pitch, plating Romans who earlier had reached on a single.
With the first 20 games of the season behind it, UCF will begin Conference USA play this weekend when it travels to Southern Miss Friday-Sunday. Game one of the Knights' first extended road trip of 2008 will get underway at 7:30 p.m. ET in Hattiesburg. Saturday's action will start at 4 p.m. ET and the series wraps up Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.
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 - 4-6 Overall, 0-0 Northeast Conference
No. 16 UCF - 19-1 Overall, 0-0 Conference USA
WP: Matt Goodyear (1-0), 4.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
LP: Joe Testa (2-2), 7.0 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
- UCF stayed undefeated at home with an 18-0 record.
- Chris Duffy scored two runs and had two RBI, as well as a walk in the win.
- Eric Kallstrom stretched his hitting streak to 10 games.
- Shane Brown was hit by a pitch for the ninth time this season, which is just three shy of tying for eighth-most in school history.
- Dwayne Bailey stayed perfect on the bases, moving his 2008 total to 12-for-12, however his hit streak came to an end at 10 games.
- Wednesday's contest marked the first time UCF sent four balls over the wall in a game since April 15, 2006, vs. Tulane.
- Brian Griggs pitched 3.0 solid innings in relief, striking out six in the process. Paul Cinder and Cody Allen each tossed an inning of scoreless ball.
- Knight pitchers struck out 14 batters vs. Wagner, which was the eighth time in nine games that they had posted double-digit strikeout totals.
- UCF left just five runners on base compared to Wagner's 13.
- Head coach Jay Bergman is now just 14 wins shy of reaching 1,000 victories at UCF.