Feb. 13, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - With one week remaining before Opening Day vs. Virginia Commonwealth Feb. 20 at 6:30 p.m., the UCF baseball team held a "walk-through" Friday at the ballpark. Along with pregame music and lineup introductions part of the evening, the Knights played a seven and a half inning scrimmage to get a feel for playing on Friday nights.
Taking the hill in the bottom of the second for Gray, senior righty Kyle Sweat cruised through the first two innings while his counterpart, freshman D.J. Hicks for White, had little trouble as well.
However in the bottom of the fourth, the defense behind Sweat provided White with a 2-0 lead. After leading off with a double to the left-center gap, Colin Arnold scored on a throwing error, which put Eric Kallstrom at second. Shane Brown then also reached on an error that permitted Kallstrom to touch home. Sweat managed to strike out the next two hitters, but Austin Smith drove a single to right, plating Brown from second.
Gray attempted to cut into its 3-0 deficit in the top of the fifth. With Beau Taylor on second and one out, Evan Stobbs roped a single through the left side to put runners at the corners, and Jake Huxtable picked up the sac fly to allow Taylor to come across and make it 3-1.
Hicks worked himself into some trouble in the next frame, walking Kyle Mills and beaning Josh Siebenaler and Beau Taylor to load the bases. But after a great at-bat by Stobbs, Hicks finally used a high fastball for the strikeout, ending the threat.
When the bottom of the sixth rolled around, Sweat was forced to stay on the hill for more than three outs and with White's hitters getting many opportunities, they took advantage. With two down, Brandon Romans cranked a triple off the center-field wall and scored on a wild pitch. The coaching staff then placed no outs on the scoreboard for Smith, who followed with a single and stole second before Nick Choto sacrificed him over to third. Kallstrom drove in Smith on a single with the infield playing in, and traveled to second when Brown was plunked. Now with two runners aboard, Chris Duffy crushed the first pitch he saw deep over the right-field fence for a three-run jack, bringing the score to 8-1.
Only one batter faced Hicks in the top of the seventh, giving way to freshman Jordan Rasinski in the bottom half. Still recovering from an earlier injury, the righty went up against six hitters who were not allowed to swing in the next two innings. Meanwhile, Justin Weiss relieved Hicks for White and used two strikeouts to keep Gray scoreless.
Although one more inning remained, head coach Terry Rooney decided to wrap it up with White holding an 8-1 advantage.
Sweat finished his outing with five innings of work, not walking a batter and striking out five. For Hicks, the freshman also went five frames, allowing three hits and fanning three.
Offensively, Gray was limited to four hits, but Duffy and Smith both connected for a pair of hits for White, highlighted by Duffy's three-run blast in the sixth.
Baseball season and single game tickets are on sale now for the 2009 campaign. Call the UCF Ticket Office at (407) 823-1000 for more information. Fans may also visit UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, and is the home of UCF's online apparel store. Also visit UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.
Lineups and Stats for UCF's Feb. 13 ScrimmageGrayDH Stephen Branca - 0-42B Josh Siebenaler - 1-1, SB, 2 HBPC Beau Taylor -0-2, SB, R, HBP1B Evan Stobbs - 1-33B Jake Huxtable - 0-2, RBILF B.J. Zimmerman - 1-3RF Chadd Hartman - 0-3SS Kyle Mills - 1-2, BB
Pitchers (Innings sometimes last more or less than three outs)SP Kyle Sweat - 28 BF, 5 IP, 8 H, 8 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 5 K (gave up five runs in the sixth after attempting to get more than three outs in the inning)RP Jordan Rasinski - 6 BF, Hitters were not allowed to swing
White (Does not include at-bats vs. Jordan Rasinski)RF Colin Arnold - 1-3, 2B, RSS Eric Kallstrom - 1-4, 2 SB, RBI, 2 R3B Shane Brown - 0-3, SB, 2 R, HBPLF Chris Duffy - 2-4, HR, R, 3 RBI1B Kiko Vazquez - 1-4C Brandon Romans - 1-3, 3B, RCF Austin Smith - 2-3, RBI, SB, R2B Nick Choto - 0-2, SAC
Pitchers (Innings sometimes last more or less than three outs)SP D.J. Hicks - 21 BF, 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 KRP Justin Weiss - 4 BF, 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K ="https://ucfknights.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>="https://ucfknights.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>="https://ucfknights.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>="https://ucfknights.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>="https://ucfknights.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>="https://ucfknights.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>="https://ucfknights.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>="https://ucfknights.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>="https://ucfknights.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>="https://ucfknights.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>="http:>