March 3, 2009
ORLANDO - Completing its four-game road trip, the UCF baseball team travels to Miami for a midweek tilt at Florida International Wednesday at 6 p.m. Senior righty Jaager Good will make his second start of the year, and enters the game needing just one strikeout to give him 100 for his career.
Schedule:
Wednesday - 6 p.m.
Records:
UCF - 2-5 Overall, 0-0 C-USA
Florida International - 3-2 Overall, 0-0 Sun Belt
Stadium:
FIU Baseball Stadium (2,000)
Series:
FIU leads, 50-42
Live Coverage
FIUsports.com
Notes on This Weekend's Festivities Against Monmouth
The home series with Monmouth Friday-Sunday will feature several exciting promotions. On Saturday, fans can show their ticket stub at the baseball ticket office before it closes to purchase a $5 men's basketball ticket that night. They also can present their baseball stub at the UCF Arena. The Knights are slated to take on East Carolina on the hardwood at 7 p.m.
Meanwhile, baseball patrons who dress up in their best spring break outfits could be the winner of a baseball prize pack during games one and two. And Sunday is Kids Day at the Park, where kids are allowed to come down on the field to run the bases and get autographs.
UCF vs. LSU Recap
UCF ran into a powerful offense and a dominant pitching staff that the Knights' Terry Rooney and Cliff Godwin coached and/or recruited, as No. 1 LSU swept three games last weekend in Baton Rouge, La. The Knights hung with the top-ranked Tigers in the first two games, trailing by only two runs in the seventh inning Friday and one run in the fifth Saturday, but the LSU bats were too much to overcome.
Upcoming Opponent
Bringing a 3-2 record into Wednesday's match-up, Florida International split a doubleheader with Brown Feb. 27 before its games with Tennessee and Coastal Carolina were rained out last weekend. The Golden Panthers opened the season by taking two of three at home from Jacksonville, including a 20-1 victory Feb. 21. FIU is hitting .273 as a club and carries a .934 fielding percentage. Its pitching staff has been stellar so far, posting a 2.66 ERA with opponents batting .170.
The Series
UCF and FIU met on opening weekend every season from 2001-07 with the Knights going 7-6 during that stretch until they put a temporary halt to the series in 2008. The two clubs now meet up for the 93rd time with the Golden Panthers holding a 50-42 all-time lead.
Duffy Delivers Early in 2009
One Knight stands as the only player who has posted at least one hit in every game in `09: Chris Duffy. The left fielder connected for two hits in each of his first two contests vs. VCU and also crushed a three-run homer in game three of the series. Eventually at No. 1 LSU, Duffy notched a double in all three games vs. the Tigers. Entering the FIU matchup, the junior carries a .357 average with a team-high 10 hits.
Kiko Cranking Them Out
Kiko Vazquez was anxiously waiting the 2009 season to start after a 2008 campaign that witnessed the first baseman miss 40 games due to an injury. His numbers are proving that. Vazquez has put four balls over the fence this year and has a .690 slugging percentage. He homered twice vs. VCU Feb. 21 and at LSU Feb. 27, giving him 20 career home runs in a Black and Gold uniform.
Yardwork
The Knights crushed six balls over the fence in their first three games this year, which may have been helped by UCF bringing in its fences at Jay Bergman Field by 10 feet. Conversely, it took 10 games last season for the Black and Gold to collect six homers. UCF went on to post at least one home run in its first six outings this season.
Strong Numbers at the Dish vs. VCU
UCF's offense finished with some impressive offensive numbers for the VCU series. Nine players had batting averages of at least .286, with seven of them hovering over .350. Meanwhile, they combined for a .521 slugging percentage and 8.5 runs per game.
Another Edition of Brownie Bits
After posting a hit in the first two games of the VCU series, Shane Brown broke out in game three where he was making his first start at catcher since 2007. The junior notched career-highs with four hits and five RBI, while also matching a personal-best with four runs scored in the 12-6 win.
Challenging VCU
A total of 12 different pitchers were used in the first four games of the year. And in 36 innings of work, they combined to walk just three batters and post 21 strikeouts.
Flocking to the Park
UCF's fifth-largest crowd in history (1,897) came out to see the Knights' Opening Day contest vs. VCU. On Feb. 21, 1,621 more witnessed game two, while 1,221 ventured through the gates Feb. 22. Even though the series ended on a Monday afternoon, 843 more saw the finale to make it the largest-attended series in UCF history at 5,582 fans.