April 6, 2008
HOUSTON, Texas (www.ucfathletics.com) - Another big inning early in the game lifted Houston over the No. 25 UCF baseball team, 14-7, Sunday at Cougar Field. UH (19-10, 5-1) scored five in the first and never looked back in the win against the Knights (22-11, 2-7), earning the three-game Conference USA series sweep.
In his debut start at first base, freshman Evan Stobbs shined with the stick, connecting for three hits, four RBI and his first Division I homer, a two-run shot in the fifth inning that sailed deep over the right-field fence.
The Knights grabbed a 1-0 advantage on an unearned run in the first inning, where senior Ryan Richardson scored all of the way from first on a Brandon Romans single and a fielding error by right fielder Matt Murphy. The lead would be short-lived as sophomore starter Carmine Giardina gave up five runs in the bottom half.
Senior Tyson Auer tried to keep it close, leading off the second vs. Donnie Joseph with a double off the wall in left-center. Following a base hit by junior Robert Lara, Stobbs sent a sacrifice fly to center to make it 2-1. UCF, however, was unable to score anymore in the frame after having runners on first and second with one out.
Houston answered with two more in its half of the second, plating the runs on three-consecutive two-out hits. The Knights again put two runners on first and second with one down in their next trip to the plate only to come up empty for the second-straight inning. When the Cougars stepped up to the dish in their portion of the third, they racked up five runs, four of which were unearned thanks to two errors, to stretch their lead to 12-2.
Joseph worked into some trouble to get the fourth started, surrendering an infield single to Stobbs and hit junior Josh Siebenaler on the helmet with a soft breaking ball. Following a one-out walk to junior Colin Arnold to load the bases, designated hitter Bryan Tully took the hill and issued a five-pitch free pass to Richardson, but UCF still could not register the clutch hit it was searching for as Tully picked up the next two outs.
The offense went back to work in the fifth, picking up a one-out single by Lara to set up Stobbs' blast. On a 2-2 pitch, the freshman hammered his first dinger the opposite way where Murphy made a couple steps back until stopping to watch it land on a street that borders the stadium.
That momentum came to a halt when Houston tacked on one in the fifth and one in the sixth for a 14-5 cushion. Stobbs was able to drive in his fourth run on a RBI single in the seventh, giving UCF its 10th hit of the afternoon. The Knights then filled the bags with nobody out in the eighth, where Chase Dempsay came out of the UH pen, earned the first out then walked junior Eric Kallstrom. Yet the Black and Gold hit into a double play to end the threat, enabling the Cougars to notch the victory.
UCF will refocus its attention to two more weekday games when USF and Stetson invade Jay Bergman Field Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. First pitch for both contests is set for 6:30 p.m.
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
No. 25 UCF - 22-11 Overall, 2-7 Conference USA
Houston - 19-10 Overall, 5-1 Conference USA
WP: Bryan Tully (2-2), 3.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
LP: Carmine Giardina (2-1), 2.0 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
- First baseman Shane Brown did not start for the first time this year due to a minor injury.
- Brandon Romans, meanwhile, batted cleanup for the first time all season.
- Eric Kallstrom pushed his hitting streak to eight games with a 2-for-4 affair vs. Houston.
- The Knights scored at least one run in six different innings.
- The seven-game losing streak is the longest since a nine-game slide to close the 2006 season, and just the fifth time in UCF history it posted a losing streak of at least seven outings.
- UCF starting pitchers have failed to go at least 5.0 innings in six of their last seven tries.
- Paul Cinder worked 2.0 scoreless innings from the Knight bullpen, striking out two.
- Sunday was the fifth time in UCF's last seven games that an opponent scored double-digit runs.