March 21, 2009
Final Stats
Notes for Sunday's Game in PDF Format
GREENVILLE, N.C. (UCFAthletics.com) - No. 23 East Carolina (15-4, 2-0) plated five runs in the first inning as it went on to post a 13-3 Conference USA win over the UCF baseball team (7-14, 0-2) Saturday. Junior Shane Brown's impressive hitting streak remained in tact in North Carolina, where he stretched it to a career-best 13 games after a 2-for-5 afternoon.
Also offensively for the Black and Gold, senior Brandon Romans pounded out his seventh home run of the year, a solo blast to lead off the eighth inning.
Facing UCF starter Caleb Graham, the Pirates connected for five runs on five hits to quickly take a commanding lead. The Knights, meanwhile, got on the scoreboard in the second to make it 5-2. Following a pair of two-out walks issued by righty Seth Maness, senior Eric Kallstrom dropped a RBI single into right-center, bringing in freshman Beau Taylor. Fellow freshman Austin Smith then banged a 1-2 pitch down the left field line to drive in junior Chris Duffy.
Trailing by three, UCF had chances at cutting into the deficit even more but left two runners on base in both the second and third innings. With ECU holding on, it retook control in the home half of the third, adding four runs for a 9-2 advantage. It cruised the rest of the way for the conference victory.
The series finale between the Knights and Pirates is scheduled to get underway Sunday at 10:30 a.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
UCF - 7-14 Overall, 0-2 C-USA
No. 23 East Carolina - 15-4 Overall, 2-0 C-USA
WP: Seth Maness (2-0), 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
LP: Caleb Graham (1-1), 2.1 IP, 9 H, 8 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
-Shane Brown's 13-game hitting streak is one shy of UCF's longest streak of the 2008 season. Last year, Eric Kallstrom and Colin Arnold both put together 14-game strings.
-Brandon Romans has seven home runs through just 21 games. In 2003, 2004 and 2006, the Knights' leading home run hitter in each of those seasons all had totals of six homers or less. Kiko Vazquez led UCF in HRs in 2007 with nine while Shane Brown paced all long-ball hitters in 2008 with nine as well.
-Romans finished Saturday with two hits, his seventh multi-hit performance of 2009.