May 16, 2008
Saturday's Game Three Preview in PDF Format
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - A two-run homer in the fifth and a three-run shot in the eighth enabled Clemson to take game two from the UCF baseball team, 7-3, Friday at Jay Bergman Field. The loss forced the Knights to watch their record fall to 31-24 on the year with one game remaining in the regular season.
Making the start for the Knights, junior Mitch Herold went at least 5.0 innings for the third-straight outing. The lefty tossed 5.1 frames against the Tigers (29-25-1), allowing two earned runs and striking out three. Sophomore Shane Brown paced the UCF offense with a pair of hits and a run scored.
Senior Tyson Auer did try to spark the offense in the first inning, earning a base hit and stealing second and third base. However, starting pitcher Graham Stoneburner left him stranded there with two outs, which set up the Clemson offense in the second. Following a leadoff double by Doug Hogan vs. Herold, Matt Sanders drove him in with a double of his own to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.
That advantage would not hold up when the Knights ventured to the plate in the bottom half. Even though Stoneburner picked up the first two outs, sophomore Chris Duffy started the rally by walking on a 3-2 pitch, and junior Eric Kallstrom ripped a single to right center to put runners at the corners. After drawing the count even at 2-2, junior Josh Siebenaler cranked a two-run double to left-center to hand the Knights their first lead of the series.
Clemson would not back down and went back on top in the fifth, where a leadoff error gave way to a Kyle Parker two-run homer to right. The Knights' best chance at tying things up again came in the seventh when Kallstrom was issued a walk to kick off the stanza. Pinch-hitter Dwayne Bailey then sacrificed him over to second, but Kallstrom ran into an out at third on a grounder back to the mound. Relief pitcher Ryan Hinson eventually ended the inning by inducing Auer to ground out to second.
By keeping UCF off the board, Clemson sealed the Knights' fate in the eighth with a two-out, three-run homer off the bat of Jeff Schaus. The Black and Gold did manage to get the tying run to the plate with two down in the home half of the inning and scored one run on an error to cut it to 6-3. Righty Matt Vaughn, though, was able to leave them loaded, and the Tigers added one run in the ninth to secure the win.
The Knights' regular-season finale is set for Saturday at 6:30 p.m. with seven seniors slated to be honored before the game.
UCF baseball single-game tickets 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
Clemson - 29-25-1 Overall, 11-18-1 ACC
UCF - 31-24 Overall, 8-16 Conference USA
WP: Graham Stoneburner (6-4), 5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
LP: Mitch Herold (4-4), 5.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
- Friday's attendance was 1,452, the 13th largest crowd in Jay Bergman Field's eight-year history, and the fourth largest in 2008.
- Tyson Auer swiped two bases in the first inning, giving him 20 for the season and 79 for his career. It marked the second-straight year that the center fielder stole at least 20 bases in a season.
- Eric Kallstrom provided fans with a sparkling defensive play in the third inning. With one out and Ben Paulsen at the dish, the catcher sent a grounder to the shortstop and it appeared to be a routine play. However, the ball took a nasty hop and Kallstrom was forced to reach out with his right hand as he was moving to his left. Somehow he picked it out of the air and quickly threw out Paulsen for the second out.
- Kiko Vazquez extended his hitting streak to seven games, his second seven-game hitting streak of the year.
- Cody Allen pitched 1.1 innings of relief, not allowing a hit or a run. - Interim head coach Craig Cozart was ejected in the top of the ninth for arguing.
- Former Knights and 2001 Division I All-American pitchers Justin Pope and Jason Arnold were both in attendance Friday.