March 22, 2009
GREENVILLE, N.C. (UCFAthletics.com) - Senior Brandon Romans homered once again for the UCF baseball team, yet No. 23 East Carolina still managed to take the Conference USA series finale, 10-3, Sunday in North Carolina. It was Romans' eighth round-tripper of the 2009 campaign, while junior Shane Brown's hitting streak stretched to 14 games in the loss.
The Knights only trailed 4-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh. However, that was when they committed a two-out error that enabled ECU to score five unearned runs in the inning and clinch the victory.
Romans has now hit a home run in three of his last four games to maintain his lead atop the C-USA chart. The catcher posted two more hits Sunday to record his eighth multi-hit contest of the season.
It was a senior that stepped up and delivered in the first at-bat of the game, where Colin Arnold smashed a 3-2 pitch from righty Mike Anderson to the gap in right-center. He reached second for the double and booked it for third when right fielder Devin Harris booted it. Fellow senior Josh Siebenaler then made sure to go to right, grounding to second base and allowing Arnold to score.
Now with the bases clear, Shane Brown kept the inning going by lining a shot off Anderson's glove for an infield single. That set up Romans' eighth homer of the year, a 1-0 no-doubter deep to left field.
After a perfect first inning on the mound, freshman Bryan Brown hit a batter and gave up a single to lead off the second. The Pirates went on to plate one run on two fielder's choices, and Brown picked up the third out by picking off Dustin Harrington from second.
The Knights forced ECU to go to the pen in the third inning after loading the bases with two outs. Southpaw Kevin Brandt faced junior left-handed hitter Chris Duffy and induced him to ground to third, ending the threat. The Pirates also had their first two batters go down in the home half, but Bryan Brown walked Ryan Wood after getting ahead 0-2 and gave up a two-run blast to Stephen Batts, tying the game at 3-3.
ECU eventually took its first lead in the fifth when Harris belted a two-strike pitch from freshman D.J. Hicks over the left-field wall for a solo homer. And the seventh inning proved costly for the Knights, as the Pirates seemed to ground into the final out with two men on base. But the ball was thrown away to permit one run to score, and Kyle Roller put it in the bag with a three-run homer to right.
With the C-USA opening weekend in the books, UCF returns to non-conference play this week with two games against Jacksonville. The Knights first square off with the Dolphins Tuesday in Orlando at 6:30 p.m. and it will be televised by Bright House Sports Network. The two programs then meet in Jacksonville Wednesday 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
UCF - 7-15 Overall, 0-3 Conference USA
No. 23 East Carolina - 16-4 Overall, 3-0 Conference USA
WP: Kevin Brandt (4-0), 5.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
LP: D.J. Hicks (1-2), 4.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
- Shane Brown's 14-game streak already tied the longest by a UCF player last year when Colin Arnold and Eric Kallstrom both had 14-game strings.
- Brandon Romans' homer in the first inning was the Knights' 26th as a team in 22 games. In 2007, UCF amassed just 25 homers in 59 games.
- Eric Kallstrom went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Knights.
- Freshman reliever D.J. Hicks gave up just three hits in 4.0 innings of work, striking out two. Only one of his three runs was earned.