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Baseball Hosts Final Non-Conference Weekend Series

March 18, 2010

By Brian Ormiston
UCFAthletics.com

Orlando, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - The Knights will welcome Presbyterian College to Orlando for their final non-conference weekend of the year beginning Friday at 6:30 p.m. Due to an event at the UCF Arena, fans attending Friday's game are encouraged to park in the right-field lot or in Lot E8 north of Bright House Networks Stadium.

Game Notes in PDF Format

Schedule:
Friday - Orlando, Fla. - 6:30 p.m.
Saturday - Orlando, Fla. - 4 p.m.
Sunday - Orlando, Fla. - 1 p.m.
Records:
Presbyterian College - 5-10 Overall, 0-0 Big South
UCF - 10-8 Overall, 0-0 C-USA
Stadium:
Jay Bergman Field (2,230)
Series:
First Meeting
Live Stats:
UCFAthletics.com
Live Video:
UCFAthletics.com
Radio
UCFAthletics.com

This Weekend's Festivities
-After speaking at the UCF Library Friday, Negro League legends will be honored at the ballpark for game one and will also throw out the first pitch.
-Saturday is Pink at the Park, Susan G. Komen Awareness Game. The first 250 fans will receive a free Armored in Pink T-shirt.
-Little League Day. Little leaguers in their uniform will be admitted free with a paying adult.

UCF vs. Stetson Recap
-It was a typical UCF-Stetson game March 17, where the Knights used a five-run eighth inning en route to an 11-7 victory. The teams combined for 28 hits and used 11 pitchers.
-Chris Duffy went 5-for-6 with two homers, while Jonathan Griffin, Ryan Breen and Darnell Sweeney had three hits apiece.

Upcoming Opponent
-With a 5-10 record, Presbyterian College enters the weekend on a three-game winning streak, defeating North Carolina Central and Wofford by a combined score of 32-6.
-The Blue Hose have a .252 average with eight homers, and the pitching staff claims a 6.43 ERA.

The Series
-This will be the first meeting between UCF and PC.

Duffy - Home Runs
-Posting at least one hit in every game except one this year, Chris Duffy is enjoying the long ball in 2010.
-The senior left fielder has crushed two homers in a game three times and has 11 overall this year.
-Duffy paces all Conference USA hitters, while the NCAA has yet to release national leaders.
-With 33, Duffy stands at fifth in career dingers.
-On March 17 at Stetson, Duffy recorded his 10th homer in game No. 18, becoming the fastest UCF player to reach that plateau.

Duffy - RBI
-Duffy has driven in at least five runs in a game three times this season, including seven RBI Feb. 20 and March 13.
-With 35 RBI, he is already one shy of tying his career-high.
-And with 136, Duffy sits 10th on the all-time list.

Duffy - Overall
-The left fielder owns a .529 average, going 37-for-70 with 35 RBI, 21 runs, 11 doubles and 11 homers.
-Duffy set a career-high in hits when we was 5-for-6 at Stetson March 17.
-With added patience at the plate, Duffy has walked nine times. In 2007 he had 16 free passes and in 2009 he was issued 14 walks. He has also been hit five times to set a personal-best.
-A lefty at the plate, Duffy is hitting over .500 against both lefties and righties.

The Running Men
-UCF has stolen 24 bases in 2010, which is tied for its overall total from 2009. Leading the way has been Darnell Sweeney with six, while Ronnie Richardson, Ryan Breen and Kevin Vasquez each have four.

Freshmen Everywhere!
UCF is consistently using several freshmen in the starting lineup this year, and they are all producing:
-DH/C/CF Ryan Breen - .444, 5 R, 4 SB
-DH/3B/1B Chris Taladay - .418, 2 HR, 17 RBI
-SS Darnell Sweeney - .297, 14 R, 6 SB
-2B Austin Johnston - .269, 6 2B, 12 R
-CF Ronnie Richardson - .245, 13 R, 17 BB, 4 SB
-And on the mound, Brian Adkins has started against two nationally-ranked teams in Florida and Miami, as well as South Florida.

Fresh Legs
-Making his third start this year, freshman Brian Adkins gave UCF its longest outing by a starter this year, going 7.0 innings against South Florida March 16.
-The Orlando native struck out five and limited the Bulls to just three runs on six hits in what was the longest start by a UCF freshman since 2008.

C-USA Leaders
-Entering the weekend Chris Duffy ranks first in average, slugging, runs, hits, RBI and homers.
-Shane Brown and Chris Taladay rank in the top five behind Duffy in batting average. Brown also ranks second in RBI and first in HBP.