April 25, 2009
Notes for April 26 Game in PDF Format
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (UCFAthletics.com) - Freshman Beau Taylor pounded out three hits and drove in three and junior Shane Brown reached base for the 15th-consecutive plate appearance in UCF's 12-8 loss at UAB Saturday. Brown's streak is now two shy of UCF's all-time record and three short of the NCAA mark. The Knights' record fell to 14-26 overall and 4-10 in Conference USA with the defeat.
Brown, who had a 22-game hitting spurt earlier this year, began this entirely new streak April 21 vs. Stetson by posting doubles in his final two at-bats. He then got on base in all eight plate appearances in game one vs. UAB (24-19, 6-8) before being perfect again Saturday. Brown touched base five times in game two with a HBP, single, walk, fielder's choice and single.
Former Knight Odie Koehnke held the NCAA record for most consecutive times on base at 17 when he accomplished the feat in 1985. That stood up until Cal State Northridge's Shaun Larkin made it 18-straight in 2002.
Taylor also has a streak of his own going, connecting for a base hit in his eighth-straight outing. It was the fifth-time he racked up three hits in a game this season, the most by any player on the squad.
Senior Kyle Sweat took over sole possession of fourth on the UCF all-time list by making his 44th career start on the mound. The righty went 5.0 innings with two strikeouts and three earned runs allowed.
It was very eerie how Saturday's affair began, as it set up almost exactly the same as game one based on the first four batters. Senior Colin Arnold led off with a base hit, classmate Josh Siebenaler laid down a sac bunt and Brown was plunked by a Shay Crawford pitch.
At this point Friday, senior Brandon Romans crushed a three-run homer to left-center and this time he sent one to the same spot. Only Saturday the wind knocked it down a bit and left fielder Cody McMurry had trouble handling it. One run scored on the play to give UCF the lead, and the Knights added two more on RBI singles from Taylor and junior Chris Duffy.
A Luke Stewart solo homer in the second closed UAB's deficit to 3-1, and it erased the entire UCF lead when the Knights committed three errors in the fourth which allowed four unearned runs to score.
Now trailing for the first time on the weekend, the Black and Gold placed the first two aboard in the fifth when Brown walked and Romans singled to left. That set up a RBI single on a 3-2 offering off the bat of Taylor. Vazquez then drew a five-pitch walk to fill the bases and with one down, where freshman D.J. Hicks lined a single up the middle to drive in a pair. Vazquez also scored on a throwing error trying to reach third base to make it 7-5.
That would not last, as Digger Towe and Andrew Manning both banged out solo dingers in the home half to even it up. The Knights did strike again with a RBI base hit by Taylor in the sixth, however the Blazers welcomed UCF reliever Bryan Brown with three runs the next time they grabbed the bats, as well as another in the seventh for an 11-8 cushion. They finished off the scoring with a run in the eighth.
UCF and UAB will conclude their series Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
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
UCF - 14-26 Overall, 4-10 Conference USA
UAB - 24-19 Overall, 6-8 Conference USA
WP: Blake Huddleston (2-0), 4.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
LP: Bryan Brown (0-6), 1.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
- For the fourth-consecutive outing, freshman catcher Beau Taylor threw out a runner on the bases, removing Nick Crawford in the fourth inning. It was Taylor's C-USA leading 16th caught stealing this year.
- Shane Brown finished 2-for-3 with three runs scored.
- Brandon Romans and D.J. Hicks also amassed two hits apiece.
- All 11 of UCF's hits were singles.