March 22, 2010
By Brian Ormiston
UCFAthletics.com
Orlando, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - UCF (13-8) wraps up its 2010 home-and-home series with No. 12 Miami when it travels to Coral Gables Tuesday for a 6 p.m. showdown. Both teams are riding four-game winning streaks and have won six of their last seven outings.
Schedule:
Tuesday at No. 12 Miami - Coral Gables, Fla. - 6 p.m.
Records:
Miami - 14-5 Overall, 5-1 ACC
UCF - 13-8 Overall, 0-0 C-USA
Stadium:
Alex Rodriguez Park (3,678)
Series:
UM leads, 22-4
Live Stats:
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UCF vs. Presbyterian Series Recap
-The offense and pitching blended together throughout UCF's series sweep over Presbyterian.
-UCF hit .440 as a team with seven homers and 11 stolen bases, while the arms posted a 1.12 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 24.0 innings.
Upcoming Opponent
-Coming off an ACC sweep at Duke and a midweek split against Fordham, Miami carries a 14-5 overall record.
-The Hurricanes are hitting .302 as a team, paced by Yasmani Grandal's .368 average and Harold Martinez's six homers.
-(UPDATED) Miami has decided to send out freshman E.J. Encinosa (0-0, 2.16) to the mound, as he will be making his first-career start.
The Series
-After Miami took down the Knights in Orlando March 9, the Hurricanes hold a 22-4 all-time lead.
Time for a Little Comparison
UCF's end-of-season leaders from 2009 compared to the team leaders through 21 games in 2010:
Average: '09 - Brown - .341
Average: '10 - Duffy - .538
HR: '09 - Romans - 14
HR: '10 - Duffy - 12
RBI: '09 - Romans - 49
RBI: '10 - Duffy - 39
TB: '09 - Romans - 116
TB: '10 - Duffy - 91
SB: '09 - Arnold - 7
SB: '10 - Sweeney - 9
BB: '09 - 2 with - 25
BB: '10 - Richardson - 17
Wins: '09 - 3 with - 4
Wins: '10 - Rogers, Dew - 3
K: '09 - Graham - 56
K: '10 - Cicio - 32
Hitting in the Clutch
-Led by Chris Duffy's .567 average and 19 RBI, the Knights are hitting .346 as a team with two outs. Shane Brown (.400), Jonathan Griffin (.400) and Derek Luciano (.400) also are stepping up in key situations, as 11 different players are hitting at least .300 two away.
-Meanwhile, Duffy and Alex Friedrich are perfect when bringing in the runner from third with less than two outs, and Luciano is batting .643 with runners in scoring position.
The Big Inning
-UCF has scored at least five runs in an inning eight times this season.
-That includes an 11 spot in the first inning of the series finale against Hartford March 14.
-The Knights have produced the most in the first inning, scoring 39 times, and are 8-2 when they do score in the first frame.
Start Me Up
The lines from UCF's starting pitchers in the series vs. Presbyterian College March 19-21:
-Fri. - Owen Dew - WP, 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
-Sat. - Nick Cicio - WP, 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 11 K
-Sun. - Joe Rogers - WP, 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
-Cicio was the first UCF pitcher since 2008 to amass at least 10 strikeouts in a game.
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 12 overall this year.
-With 34, Duffy stands at fifth in career dingers.
-Duffy was the first player in the nation to hit 10 HR.
-On March 17 at Stetson, Duffy recorded his 10th homer in game No. 18, becoming the fastest UCF player in history to reach that plateau.
Duffy - RBI
-Duffy has driven in at least five runs three times this season, including seven RBI Feb. 20 and March 13.
-With 39 RBI, he already has set his career-high.
-And with 140, Duffy sits 10th on the all-time list.
Duffy - Overall
-The left fielder owns a .538 average, going 42-for-78 with 39 RBI, 26 runs, 11 doubles and 12 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 six 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 35 bases in 2010, which is already more than its overall total from 2009. Leading the way has been Darnell Sweeney with nine, while Ryan Breen is a perfect 5-for-5.
Freshmen Everywhere!
UCF is consistently using several freshmen in the starting lineup this year, and they are all producing:
-DH/C/CF Ryan Breen - .483, 11 R, 3 HR, 5 SB
-DH/3B/1B Chris Taladay - .388, 3 HR, 23 RBI
-SS Darnell Sweeney - .329, 16 R, 9 SB
-2B Austin Johnston - .290, 7 2B, 14 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 a 7.0-inning outing vs. South Florida.
-Joe Rogers has stepped up from his early role as the closer to make two weekend starts. The lefty has a 3-0 record with a 1.08 ERA, striking out 21 in 16.2 innings.
C-USA Leaders
-Entering the week Chris Duffy ranks first in average, slugging, OBP, runs, hits, RBI and homers.
-Shane Brown and Chris Taladay rank in the top 10 behind Duffy in batting average, RBI and slugging.