April 29, 2009
TAMPA, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - UCF baseball was unable to pick up its second-straight win over USF, falling 9-3 in Tampa Wednesday night. The loss to the No. 25 Bulls (28-16) dropped the Knights record to 16-27 for the season while they finished the month of April with a mark of 9-7.
A pair of freshmen relievers had strong outings for the Black and Gold. Jordan Rasinski worked a hitless inning with one strikeout in the sixth, while Anthony Figliolia struck out a season-high four in scoreless seventh and eighth frames.
Leading the way with the aluminum, junior Shane Brown collected two more hits with a double, marking the sixth-straight game he posted at least two hits. Junior Chris Duffy joined him with two base hits and a two-bagger as well.
The reigning National Hitter of the Week, Brown kick-started the UCF offense in the first vs. lefty Teddy Kaufman. With two down and nobody aboard, the second baseman drilled a double off the top of the center-field fence and immediately scored on an error with senior Brandon Romans at the dish.
After retiring the side in order in his half of the first, UCF starting pitcher Bryan Brown could not duplicate that in the second, where the Bulls scored one to even it up. But Brown negated a big inning when there were runners at second and third with one out by striking out Sam Mende and inducing Peter Brotons to ground out. USF was at it again in the third, though, and took the lead with two more following a one-out walk.
The Knights then went to the pen for the fourth, where the Bulls broke it open with four two-out runs to bring their advantage to 7-1, and they were on their way to the victory.
Conference USA play will resume this weekend when the Knights host Marshall starting Friday at 6:30 p.m.
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 - 16-27 Overall
No. 25 USF - 28-16 Overall
WP: Teddy Kaufman (2-3), 8.1 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K
LP: Bryan Brown (0-7), 3.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
- Eric Kallstrom became just the 10th player in UCF history to record 700 at-bats or more. With two on Wednesday, the senior shortstop has an even 700 at-bats in four years with the Knights, as he went 0-for-2 with two walks.
- Kiko Vazquez was hit by a pitch in the fourth inning, giving him 17 on the year which is one shy of tying Ryan Bono's single-season record of 18 set in 2005. It also was Vazquez's 44th in his career, one short of Dee Brown who sits in third place. The all-time record is 50 HBP by Bono from 2003-06.