March 15, 2011
| UCF vs. South Florida March 15, 2011 |
| From Orlando, Fla. | |||||
| Team | R | H | E | ||
| USF | 6 | 12 | 1 | ||
| UCF | 5 | 18 | 0 | ||
WP: Carlin (1-1), 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
LP: Hicks (1-1), 1.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
SV: Quackenbush (3), 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
Game-Changing Moment
UCF held a 4-3 lead with two outs in the eighth before Jimmy Falla drove in three to put South Florida ahead for the first time, and the Bulls held on the rest of the way.
Three Stars
First: USF PH/RF Jimmy Falla, 2-for-2, 4 RBI
Second: UCF SP Brian Adkins, 6.2 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
Third: USF 2B Jonathan Koscso, 4-for-5, 1 RBI
By Brian Ormiston
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - UCF lost a 4-2 lead in the eighth inning as South Florida stole a 6-5 victory Tuesday in Orlando. The Bulls (7-9) scored all of their runs with two outs to drop the Knights' record to 13-4 on the season.
Sophomore Brian Adkins was in line to get the victory after another impressive performance on the mound until USF struck late against the Knights' pen. The southpaw finished his third-straight start of at least 6.0 innings with 6.2 frames, allowing two runs on six hits, walking one and striking out four. That walk was the first Adkins had issued all season (he has 22.2 innings of work so far in 2011).
Three of UCF's eight hits were homers, with two coming off the bat of D.J. Hicks and another from Jonathan Griffin. It was Hicks' third two-homer game of his career, and the duo both have a team-high four long balls this year.
The first scoring chance by either team occurred in the bottom of the second as a two-out error placed UCF runners at second and third against Matt Reed, yet the lefty induced Derek Luciano to pop out to third in foul ground to end the threat. That was the only time in the first three innings that a runner got into scoring position.
Although Reed was cruising, the UCF offense showed up in the fourth in a big way. Leading off the inning, Griffin demolished a 1-0 offering that landed somewhere in Oviedo. After Chris Taladay was plunked, Hicks fell behind 2-2 before crushing a two-run homer over the wall in right.
Eventually in the sixth with UCF ahead 3-0, the Bulls placed their first runner on second base when Jonathan Koscso led off with a double. Following a fly ball that pushed Koscso to third, Adkins and his defense ruined USF's hopes of lighting up the scoreboard. UCF picked up the second out when Luciano made a great snag on a line drive to third off the bat of Sam Mende, and Adkins then struck out cleanup hitter Todd Brazeal to strand Koscso.
Although UCF was able to get out of a jam, Reed did the same after giving up a leadoff double to Taladay in the sixth. And by keeping USF in the contest, Reed's offense finally struck in the seventh by notching a pair of two-out runs to cut its deficit to 3-2.
With South Florida inching closer, the Knights scored a key run in the home half of the seventh as Ronnie Richardson got it going with a double and scored two batters later on a base hit from Beau Taylor to make it 4-2.
In the eighth with Hicks now pitching, USF threatened again when Mende touched second with one down and later scored on a two-out single from Chad Taylor. But the inning was far from over as the Bulls scored a total of four two-out runs in the frame to jump out to a 6-4 advantage.
Hicks tried to bounce back at the plate by sending a solo home run over the center-field wall in the bottom half, however that was as close as UCF could get as USF wrapped it up with a scoreless ninth.
The Knights' 13-game homestand concludes this weekend when they host Columbia Friday-Sunday. The Lions were recently at South Alabama where they split a four-game series.
Game Notes
South Florida - 7-9 Overall
UCF - 13-4 Overall
-It was standing-room only as announced attendance was 1,711, which was the 11th largest in UCF history.
-UCF had given up just five runs all year in the eighth inning before surrendering four in that frame Tuesday.
-The Knights did commit an error for the third-straight game and for the 11th time in 2011.
-USF outhit the Knights, 12-8, with 11 of those hits being singles.
-D.J. Hicks finished 2-for-3 with three RBI on two homers.