Feb. 20, 2010
By John Denton
UCFAthletics.com
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Orlando, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - At 6-foot-2 and 240 pounds, Chris Duffy is expected to drive the ball out of the park for UCF's baseball team this season, and he did just that twice on Saturday.
But what might not be expected is the senior barreling in at full speed, reaching across his body and sliding to make a nifty catch out in left field.
When it's your day, it's just your day sometimes. And Saturday in Orlando, the afternoon belonged to UCF's senior slugger.
Duffy pulled a home run to right-center, muscled another bomb to left-center on an 0-2 pitch, sliced two doubles to left and drove in a career-best seven runs in UCF's 14-4 rout of Savannah State on Saturday before 1,111 fans.
Duffy finished one short of equaling school records for RBIs (eight) and total bases (13). He finished 4-for-5, with two runs scored and 12 total bases. But it was the sliding catch that brought the biggest smile to the Orlando native's face.
``I saw the ball off the bat, ran as hard as I could and just sort of stuck my glove out there and caught it,'' Duffy said with a laugh. ``I don't know how it happened.''
The middle of UCF's order of Beau Taylor (5-for-6), Jonathan Griffin (3-for-5) and Duffy (4-for-5) combined to go 12-for-17 with three home runs, 12 RBI and nine runs scored. Overall, UCF pounded out 19 hits.
Taylor, a freshman All-American last season, hit a home run in the seventh inning, scored four times and drove in three runs. In two games so far, the sweet-swinging left-hander is 7-for-9 with four RBI.
``The ball's big right now, like a beach ball,'' said Taylor, a Rockledge native. ``They've got a shift on for me and Duffy right now, so you know they're pitching us middle-to-in right now. I'm just looking for a ball out of the plate and I'm jumping on it.''
That was more than enough to push UCF's much-improved, revamped team to 2-0 in the season. The Knights, who won the season-opener 7-2 on Friday night, closes the three-game set against Savannah State (0-2) Sunday at 1 p.m.
With the fourth-ranked recruiting class surrounding a solid core of returning players and a favorable home schedule, UCF's eternally optimistic coach Terry Rooney thinks the Knights are poised for big things this season.
He was happy that the Knights finished the game strong - a point of emphasis for him this season. And he said the Knights' crushing the ball shows just how good the team could be offensively this season.
``You could see the middle of our lineup did a really nice job and gave us some balance,'' Rooney said. ``You can see what we have a potential to do. We have a long way to go, but our offense really has a chance to be a dynamic offense. We've got speed throughout and we've got a couple of guys who can really drive the ball out of the park.''
Starting pitcher Johnny Sedlock, UCF's first left-handed starting pitcher since the end of the 2008 season, backed up the big offensive outing with some solid work on the mound. He scattered eight hits and allowed just one run over five innings. The junior from Avon Park pitched out of trouble in the third inning and his most impressive work came in the fifth inning. He got out of a bases loaded jam by inducing a ground out and struck Dexter Kelly out to end the inning.
``I had some first-inning jitters and had a hard time finding the rhythm, but once I found it I just threw strikes and put my trust in my offense and defense,'' Sedlock said. ``I just have to do my part and trust my teammates.''
UCF got some spectacular play in the field as well. Freshman shortstop Darnell Sweeney turned a double play in the second inning, star freshman center fielder Ronnie Richardson made a lunging catch to end the seventh inning and third baseman Derek Luciano made a diving stop in the top of the ninth.
Duffy registered the fifth multi-home run game of his career at UCF and moved into a tie for eighth in school history in home runs with 24. He hit eight home runs as a freshman and sophomore, but dropped to only six last season.
Having added some extra muscle this offseason, Duffy is looking to become a power-hitting force this season for the Knights. He knows that his future in baseball is on the line this season because he was a ninth-round draft pick by the Chicago White Sox out of high school, but he wasn't drafted this past summer.
Now, Duffy is hoping for a special senior season.
``My approach because I have quick hands is to hit the ball to the opposite field and cut down on my strike outs,'' Duffy said. ``Everything I can find is motivating. I use all the negative things to motivate me and I try to take all the positives to learn from and get better every day.''
John Denton's Knights Insider appears several times per week on UCFAthletics.com. E-mail John at jdenton@athletics.ucf.edu.