March 11, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - USF jumped on the UCF baseball team in the first four innings and held on for a 13-5 win over the Knights Wednesday in Orlando. The game opened a seven-game homestand for the Black and Gold, which saw their record fall to 4-9 on the season.
Sophomore Stephen Branca blasted a two-run homer in the fifth for the Knights, which was his second dinger since making his season-debut March 8. It also was the team's 16th homer of the 2009 campaign. Meanwhile, freshman catcher Beau Taylor amassed a season-high three hits and scored a run.
Facing UCF starter Jaager Good, the Bulls (7-5) got on the board quickly in the top of the first when they scored three runs after loading the bases with no outs. They made it 4-0 on an unearned run in the second. The Knights then went to the pen to start the third and junior Austin Hudson surrendered four as USF went ahead 8-0.
Sophomore Evan Stobbs came on in the fourth and Stephen Hunt greeted him with a one-out solo homer to right. In the home half, the Knights picked up a run when junior Shane Brown doubled, senior Brandon Romans singled and senior Kiko Vazquez produced with a sac fly to right.
Branca's two-run homer in the fifth cut it to 9-3, however USF came through with two of its own in the seventh and two more in the ninth for a 13-3 margin. An Austin Smith RBI double in the bottom of the ninth for UCF, as well as a RBI single from Josh Siebenaler, closed out the scoring.
Continuing their seven-game homestand, the Knights have a busy weekend ahead when they host Hartford and Northern Iowa. UCF and the Hawks do battle Friday at 6:30 p.m., Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m., while UNI invades Orlando for one game on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
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.
Game Notes
USF - 7-5 overall
UCF - 4-9 overall
WP: Matt Reed (1-0), 5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
LP: Jaager Good (0-2), 2.0 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 1 K
-The game was televised by Bright House Sports Network, the first of three home tilts the station will cover this year. BHSN will be back to the stadium on March 18 when UCF battles Florida.
-Freshman Jake Huxtable made his first start of the year in right field Wednesday.
-Kiko Vazquez's sacrifice fly in the fourth was his 10th career sac fly, moving him into a tie for fourth on the UCF all-time list.
-Shane Brown stretched his hitting streak to a season-high five games.
-Josh Siebenaler's hitting streak improved to four games dating back to last year.