April 1, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Junior Shane Brown and senior Colin Arnold both extended their hitting streaks while UCF used eight pitchers to post an all-around 8-2 victory vs. North Florida Wednesday in Orlando. Brown's streak of 19 games tied him for the second-longest in program history and Arnold's jumped to 11 games to help the Knights improve to 8-20 on the season.
"What we needed was someone to rise to the occasion, and we talked about that a lot," said head coach Terry Rooney. "The whole tone of the game was set in the first inning when Kyle Sweat pitched in the clutch with men on second and third base. That was all of the difference. (Using a lot of pitchers) I think is going to be the recipe for success during the middle of the week."
Brown posted another monster performance, going 4-for-5 with two runs, three RBI, a double and a homer against the Ospreys (12-17 overall). For Arnold, he matched a career-high with three runs as the Knights' leadoff hitter.
"We've got good momentum going into the weekend. All of our pitchers threw well tonight and our hitters had good at-bats and played solid defense," said Brown, whose streak dates back to March 4. "I'm just being aggressive up there and that's what's working for me right now."
Sweat made the start and by design went 2.0 innings, not allowing a run and striking out two. Freshman Jordan Rasinski continued to make his comeback from a lengthy injury and earned his first collegiate win by pitching effectively in his outing, striking out the side in the fifth inning. Although eight hurlers were used, none of them issued a walk.
"For Jordan, the first guy got on and after that he struck a couple guys out, and he got a strikeout with a man on second base," said Rooney. "So there's a young kid stepping up to the plate, and we are continuing to see that from a lot of our younger players."
An 11-pitch at-bat jump-started the UCF offense in the bottom of the first vs. UNF starter Ty Pryor, where Arnold worked a leadoff walk. Freshman Jake Huxtable put two aboard with an 0-2 base hit, and two batters later with runners at the corners, senior Brandon Romans drove in a run on a fielder's choice.
Brown put a stamp on his hitting streak in the third inning, opening the frame up with a double just inside the third-base bag. Romans put Brown at third with a single and senior Kiko Vazquez made it 2-0 thanks to a sacrifice fly.
That two-run lead was erased with one-swing of the bat in the fourth when UNF's Kevin Martin crushed a two-out, two-run homer to left.
After watching North Florida go yard, the Knights answered with a long ball of their own in the home half. Junior Kyle Mills became the third leadoff batter to reach in the first four innings, doubling to left-center and quickly came around to score by way of a single from Arnold. Pryor did pick up an out in the next at-bat only to witness Brown hammer a 0-1 offering deep over the left-field wall for a two-run job.
Now holding a 5-2 cushion, Arnold and Huxtable returned in the sixth vs. reliever Antonio Franzese as Arnold walked, stole second and promptly scored on a RBI single by Huxtable. A single and a walk then filled the bases for Vazquez, who dropped a one-run single into left, and the Black and Gold capped off the inning when Brown scored on a wild pitch.
The Knights' bullpen shut down the Ospreys in the last five innings to preserve the victory.
UCF's longest road trip of the season awaits as its five-game adventure begins with a Conference USA series at Memphis starting Friday.
Baseball flex pack voucher packages as well as single game tickets are on sale 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
North Florida - 12-17 Overall
UCF - 8-20 Overall
WP: Jordan Rasinski (1-0), 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
LP: Ty Pryor (2-5), 3.1 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
- Shane Brown's four hits tied a career-high. The junior has now posted four hits in a game three times this season.
- Brown is now tied with Clay Timpner (2004), Ryan Bear (2003) and Adam Johnson (1994-95) for second-place on UCF's all-time longest hit streak list. Mike Myers holds the record with a 26-game stretch in 2001.
- Jake Huxtable notched two hits with a RBI and run scored.
- Kiko Vazquez picked up two RBI from the five hole.
- Along with Kyle Sweat and Jordan Rasinski blanking UNF in their respective performances, Brennan Dobbins, Evan Stobbs, Austin Hudson, Bryan Brown and D.J. Hicks all pitched 1.0 inning each, not giving up a run. Hudson alone sat down two on strikeouts.
- The seven relievers all got through their inning of work with 17 pitches or less.