May 4, 2009
ORLANDO (UCFAthletics.com) - UCF's non-conference home schedule wraps up this week when it hosts Florida International Tuesday and Stetson Wednesday. Both games feature 6:30 p.m. first pitches, and little league members wearing their full uniform get in free with a full price adult.
Parking Map for May 5 in PDF Format
Schedule:
Tuesday vs. FIU - Orlando, Fla. - 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday vs. Stetson - Orlando, Fla. - 6:30 p.m.
Records:
FIU - 29-18 Overall, 14-10 Sun Belt
Stetson - 23-25 Overall, 12-12 Atlantic Sun
UCF - 17-29 Overall, 6-12 C-USA
Stadium:
Jay Bergman Field (2,230)
Series:
FIU leads UCF, 51-42
UCF leads Stetson, 63-48
Live Coverage:
UCFAthletics.com
Radio - Wednesday:
740-AM with Marc Daniels on the Call
Parking Advisory - Tuesday
Due to an event being held at the UCF Arena on May 5, UCF baseball fans are encouraged to arrive early and access FREE parking in the E8 and E7 surface lots located next to Bright House Networks Stadium - these lots can be accessed from Orion Boulevard. Garage F located across from the UCF Baseball Stadium will be a "pay lot" on Tuesday.
UCF vs. Marshall Series Recap
After Marshall captured the first two games in the late innings vs. UCF, the Knights responded with an 8-7 11-inning victory in the finale last weekend. Colin Arnold and Brandon Romans both went 5-for-14 for a .357 during the series, while all three senior starting pitchers lasted at least 6.1 innings in their respective outings.
Upcoming Opponent
Florida International captured the final two games of its Sun Belt series with Arkansas State to improve its record to 29-18 and 14-10 in league play. The Golden Panthers continue to hit the ball very well, claiming a .329 team average with 69 homers and 57 stolen bases. On the mound, they have a 5.25 ERA while sitting down 377 on strikes in 409.2 innings.
The Series
With an 8-3 win in Miami March 4, FIU now holds a 51-42 lead in the all-time series. The Golden Panthers scored three in the first and sealed it with four in the fifth. In the loss, Kiko Vazquez, Evan Stobbs and Jake Huxtable each recorded two hits, as the game featured eight errors, five by FIU.
Everybody Wants to Rule the World
Three senior starting pitchers have been stepping up in a big way lately for the Knights. They went at least 5.0 innings in the series victory at UAB April 24-26. Caleb Graham opened up with six frames in game one, allowing just one run for the win, while Kyle Sweat gave up three earned runs in five innings of work in the next day. Taking the hill for the rubber match, Jaager Good delivered 6.0 strong innings with four strikeouts to grab the important victory.
The following weekend vs. Marshall May 1-3, the trio proceeded to work at least 6.1 innings each. Graham opened the series with 6.1 frames and three strikeouts, Good lasted 7.1 innings and left with the game tied at 4-4 and Sweat fanned six with just one walk in 7.0 in the finale.
Sign Your Name
With all of the accolades Shane Brown received from across the nation for tying an NCAA record with 18-straight times on base, he received a request that will put his name on display among several other greats in college ball. The College Baseball Hall of Fame in Lubbock, Texas, will be displaying game-worn batting gloves signed by Brown in its museum, honoring the junior for his memorable performance April 21-26. To learn more about last year's collection, head to collegebaseballfoundation.org and click on Museum. One of those pieces of memorabilia is a ball used during Mitch Houck and Austin Hudson's combined no-hitter in 2008 vs. Wagner.
Big Time
Senior Jaager Good began the year trying to overcome a lengthy injury, and lately it appears he has worked his way back to his old self. The righty picked up the victory with 6.1 innings at UAB April 26, sitting down four on strikes. Against Marshall May 2, he went 7.1 innings and left in a 4-4 tie. Good struck out five in the process.
Hurts So Good
By being plunked twice vs. Marshall May 1, senior Kiko Vazquez took over the UCF single-season HBP record. The first baseman has now been hit 20 times on the year, while he also has been popped 47 times at UCF, which ranks second in the Knights' career list. Vazquez trails Ryan Bono for the program record, who was hit 50 times from 2003-06.
Something So Strong
D.J. Hicks went from hitting .229 before April 24 to batting close to the .300 mark. It was all thanks to four-straight multi-hit games which saw the freshman pound out four homers with 13 RBI April 24-28. Hicks went 5-for-6 with a UCF record six runs at UAB April 24, posted two more hits the next day and had three hits in the series finale. Then taking on USF, Hicks tied it up at 3-3 with a three-run job in the fourth inning before giving UCF the lead thanks to a two-run homer in the sixth.
Hicks also blossomed in four relief appearances April 15-28. The two-way player allowed just two runs with no walks and four strikeouts in 6.2 innings vs. Florida Gulf Coast April 15. He returned April 21 vs. Stetson and retired the first nine batters he faced from the sixth to the eighth innings, giving the Knights' offense a chance to erase a 10-0 deficit in a 13-12 win. Hicks was then stellar at UAB April 26 en route to a three-inning save, with the only runs surrendered coming with two down in the ninth. Two days later he did not give up a hit in 1.2 innings for the save vs. USF.
Maniac
UCF held the NCAA record from 1985-02 when Odie Koehnke reached base in 17-straight plate appearances during the `85 campaign. That was until Cal State Northridge's Shaun Larkin got aboard 18-consecutive times in `02. However, the UCF name has been reattached to that record thanks to Shane Brown.
It all started with a double in the seventh against Stetson April 21. Brown then had another two-bagger in the eighth. But it was in game one at UAB April 25 that made those doubles really stand out as he then reached base in all eight plate appearances vs. the Blazers. One day later, the junior got aboard all five times, and in the series finale, Brown had a homer, double and single to tie the mark of 18-straight. Even though he flew out in his fourth at-bat April 26, Brown still went 13-for-18 in those four games for a .722 batting average, 1.333 slugging percentage, .783 on-base percentage and a 2.116 OPS.
Due to the memorable performance, Brown received NCBWA Pro-Line Athletic, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Louisville Slugger and CollegeBaseballInsider.com National Player of the Week awards along with the Conference USA Hitter of the Week accolade.