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Hudson Dominant in Relief, But UCF Falls to FIU, 7-4

Stats

May 5, 2009

Final Stats

Box Score in PDF Format

Notes for the May 6 Game in PDF Format

ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Junior Austin Hudson (Orlando, Fla.) limited Florida International to just two hits in the final five innings, but the Golden Panthers' early runs held up in a 7-4 win over UCF Tuesday. With the loss, the Knights witnessed their overall record drop to 17-30, while FIU improved to 30-18 for the 2009 campaign.

Hudson retired the first six batters he went up against after entering the game in the fifth inning, and also faced the minimum nine hitters through his initial three frames of work. He finished with just one run against on two hits in 5.0 innings, walking only one and striking out five.

For the Knights' offense, junior Shane Brown pushed his hitting streak to 10 games, giving him two separate streaks of at least 10 outings this year. The second baseman earlier recorded a 22-game stretch from March 4 to April 7.

In his 200th career start at UCF, senior Eric Kallstrom delivered his second home run of the season, as it was the Knights' 61st dinger as a team in 2009. That ranks in a tie for the fifth-most in UCF single-season history, and trails the 1998 record-holding squad by five.

Back-to-back doubles greeted UCF starter Bryan Brown to leadoff the first inning, which enabled FIU to climb out to a 1-0 lead. The Golden Panthers then scored an unearned run later in the inning, and two more unearned runs in the second for a 4-0 advantage. For the Black and Gold, it too plated an unearned run in the home half of the second by way of a passed ball with runners at second and third with one out.

Even though UCF attempted to cut into the deficit, FIU struck back in the third with a two-out RBI double by Pablo Bermudez, as well as a RBI single from Greg Wadell in the fourth. It remained 6-1 until Kallstrom sent a two-out, 0-2 pitch from R.J. Fondon deep to left for career homer No. 14.

The Knights dug in again for the eighth inning, where freshman D.J. Hicks led off with a double and classmate Alex Friedrich walked. Two outs later and facing a new pitcher, Shane Brown drilled a double into the left-center gap, driving in both runners. Now only ahead by two, the Golden Panthers successfully used the squeeze bunt with two outs in the ninth with Kadell at the dish to bring in the final run of the evening.

UCF now has just four home games left in the 2009 season, as it will take on Stetson Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. and Houston May 14-16.

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
Florida International - 30-18 Overall
UCF - 17-30 Overall
WP: R.J. Fondon (6-2), 7.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
LP: Bryan Brown (0-8), 4.0 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
- UCF has now played a home game this year on St. Patrick's Day, Easter and Cinco de Mayo.
- Freshman catcher Beau Taylor threw out runner No. 20 on the season when he removed Junior Arrojo from the bases in the seventh inning.
- Austin Hudson got through his 5.0 innings of relief with just 70 pitches, throwing 43 for strikes.
- Shane Brown, Kiko Vazquez and D.J. Hicks each record a double Tuesday night.