May 13, 2010
By Brian Ormiston
UCFAthletics.com
Orlando, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Senior Weekend is here as UCF welcomes East Carolina to Orlando Friday-Sunday in a key Conference USA series where both teams will be fighting for a spot in the league's six-team postseason tournament. Five seniors will be honored before game two on Saturday which is presented by Holler-Classic Automotive: Shane Brown, Chris Duffy, Matt Goodyear, Matt Manning and Cory Weech.
Schedule:
Friday - Orlando, Fla. - 6:30 p.m.
Saturday - Orlando, Fla. - 4 p.m.
Sunday - Orlando, Fla. - 11 a.m.
Records:
East Carolina - 28-21 Overall, 8-10 C-USA
UCF - 30-19 Overall, 7-11 C-USA
Stadium:
Jay Bergman Field (2,230)
Series:
ECU leads, 15-4
Live Stats:
UCFAthletics.com
Live Video:
UCFAthletics.com
Radio
UCFAthletics.com and 740-AM (Marc Daniels on the Call)
This Weekend's Festivities
-All Weekend: Bring in five Coca-Cola cans or bottles and receive a free UCF baseball T-shirt (while supplies last)... First 100 fans through the gates in a UCF baseball T-shirt get a Coca-Cola...Chick-Fil-A Kids Club members are admitted free.
-Friday: First 200 fans receive free UCF trading cards.
-Saturday: Senior Day and senior poster giveaway.
-Sunday: Youths in their little league jerseys get in free.
UCF vs. JU Recap
-The Knights produced another comeback win Tuesday in a 6-5 10-inning victory vs. Jacksonville.
-UCF erased a 5-0 deficit by scoring four in the fifth before Jonathan Griffin tied it on a homer in the ninth. To finish it off, Chris Duffy drove in Darnell Sweeney in the 10th for the walk-off single.
-One day later at JU, the offense pounded out 17 hits in a 14-8 victory. Chris Taladay came through with three doubles and a homer, while Ryan Breen and Alex Friedrich each had three hits.
Upcoming Opponent
-Just one game ahead of UCF in the C-USA standings, ECU has lost four-straight league games including getting swept at Southern Miss last weekend to own a 28-21 overall record and a 8-10 mark in C-USA.
-The Pirates remain one of the best hitting teams in the conference, posting a .323 average with 64 homers.
-While holding a .952 fielding percentage, ECU's arms meanwhile have a 5.12 staff ERA with seven arms boasting ERAs under 5.00.
The Series
-The Pirates have won five-straight games against UCF to hold a 15-4 all-time lead in the series.
-Since joining C-USA in 2006, the Knights have hosted ECU twice in Orlando and won game one each time before the Pirates collected victories in the final two outings.
Larger Than Life
The 2010 Seniors
-Shane Brown: One of the purest hitters UCF has ever seen...Lifetime .357 hitter with 23 homers and 56 doubles.
-Chris Duffy: A sweet swing with exceptional power who ultimately will finish his career among the top home run hitters of all-time.
-Matt Goodyear: The vocal leader has appeared in 23 games in four seasons, including his career-long 4.2-inning outing earlier this week vs. JU.
-Matt Manning: Left his mark in just two years on the mound with his passion for the game and sidearm delivery...Has appeared in 19 games with four saves this year.
-Cory Weech: After joining UCF as a sophomore, appeared in 27 games last year which was the fifth most in school history...He is 4-1 lifetime as a Knight.
Tubthumping
-UCF has five different players with at least 10 doubles, led by Shane Brown with 18.
-The last time the Knights produced a stat like that was when the 2005 squad had eight players connect for double-digit two-baggers.
-Meanwhile,UCF also has eight Knights with 20 or more walks. The last time that happened was in 1995 when it had nine players receive at least 20 free passes.
This is How We Do It
-A 2009 Freshman All-American, Beau Taylor entered 2010 as a sophomore with two promising freshmen catchers backing him up in Chris Taladay and Ryan Breen. With Taylor owning the starting job, it was not sure how much playing time the newcomers would receive. But that quickly changed.
-Taylor currently owns a .343 average, while Taladay earned the starting gig at third base en route to a .363 mark. And since Breen took advantage of early opportunities at the plate, he was locked into the designated hitter role and now hits .331 with 10 stolen bases.
-Combined, the trio has belted out 19 homers and driven in 101 runs.
-Look for all three catchers to appear in a special feature story on an upcoming edition UCF SportsKnight.
MMMBop
-It does not matter what level of competition. Not many players can boast a .400 batting average.
-And the Knights have two of them in Chris Duffy (.433) and Shane Brown (.415). The senior outfielders have both held batting averages above .400 at the same time for every game dating back to March 2.
-UCF is one of only two teams in the country (New Mexico) that has two players with averages of at least .415.
Two Princes
-Even though the Knights have a brand new infield consisting of three freshmen - 2B Austin Johnston, SS Darnell Sweeney, 3B Chris Taladay - and junior-college transfer 1B Jonathan Griffin, they are turning two at will.
-In all, the UCF defense has turned 52 double plays. As of last week's national stats, that ranks 10th in the country.
Nothing Compares 2 U
-Along with have three freshmen starters on the infield, the Knights also have a sophomore catcher (Beau Taylor), freshman center fielder (Ronnie Richardson) and freshman designated hitter (Ryan Breen).
-Even with all the young talent, the Knights are hitting .337 as a team, with eight of those starters holding .298 averages or above.
-The only exception is second baseman Austin Johnston, who carries a .260 mark in his first year at UCF. While that does not rank near the top of the lineup, the Winter Haven native has pounded out 11 doubles and been hit 14 times.
-Johnston also has shown incredible defensive skills this year, and owns a .960 fielding percentage while playing one of the toughest positions in the field.
U Can't Touch This
-At 14, UCF has its longest non-conference winning streak since it won 14-straight during the 2001 campaign (the 1995 club had an 18-game streak). In 2010, the 14-game stretch includes wins against seven different Florida programs (Miami, FAU, Jacksonville, South Florida, Stetson, Bethune-Cookman, North Florida).
-UCF boasts a 23-8 record in non-league tilts. Through those 31 games, Chris Duffy is 57-for-115 for a .496 average along with posting 14 homers, 50 RBI and 14 doubles.
-As a team, the Knights have a .566 slugging percentage and a .443 on-base percentage for a 1.009 OPS.
-Freshman Joe Rogers is 4-0 with a 1.33 ERA and four saves outside of C-USA, as opposing teams have a combined 8.47 ERA against the Knights offense.