April 12, 2011
| UCF vs. Florida Atlantic April 12, 2011 |
| From Boca Raton, Fla. | |||||
| Team | R | H | E | ||
| UCF | 2 | 7 | 2 | ||
| FAU | 3 | 13 | 1 | ||
WP: Troyanowski (1-1), 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
LP: Collins (0-1), 1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
SV: Adams (4), 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Game-Changing Moment
Both teams were picking up scoring chances throughout the game, but it was Sean Bukovich's sacrifice fly with one out and the bases loaded in the seventh that proved to be the difference.
Three Stars
First: FAU 3B Sean Bukovich, 1-for-3, GW RBI
Second: UCF 1B Jonathan Griffin, 1-for-3, HR
Third: FAU Bullpen, 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 K
By Brian Ormiston
UCFAthletics.com
BOCA RATON, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Senior first baseman Jonathan Griffin (Bradenton, Fla.) crushed a home run in his fourth-straight game but UCF fell on the road to Florida Atlantic Tuesday, 3-2. The Owls (20-13) broke a 2-2 tie in the seventh as the Knights did not score in the final six innings to fall to 21-12 on the season.
Griffin became the first Knight since Matt Horwath in 2005 to homer in four-consecutive contests. The senior pushed his 2011 total to eight, while he now has 21 total round-trippers in just two seasons in a Black and Gold uniform. Griffin is just three shy of tying Sam Nattile for 10th on the UCF all-time list.
The solo blast by Griffin in the second provided UCF with a 1-0 lead against righty Jake Meiers. And the visitors doubled that in the third when Ryan Breen led off with a double just inside the first-base bag, was sacrificed over by Travis Shreve and driven in by Darnell Sweeney.
FAU responded in the bottom of the third on a RBI double from Colby Gratton, and UCF starter Chase Bradford eventually faced runners at the corners with one out. But he struck out Alex Hudak, who entered hitting .439, and got Nick Delguidice to ground out to short, keeping UCF ahead 2-1.
However the Knights' lead was gone in the fourth, where the Owls took advantage of a two-out error to even things up at two apiece.
Bradford's day was done when the home half of the fifth rolled around, and the righty finished with 4.0 innings of work, striking out two, not walking a batter and giving up just one earned run. Johnny Sedlock entered and watched as FAU put runners at second and third with one down in the frame, only the southpaw struck out Mike Spano on three pitches before Sean Bukovich send a grounder to short for the third out.
With Sedlock escaping, the Knights strode to the plate in the sixth looking to break the 2-2 stalemate, and sent two onto the basepaths with walks to Ronnie Richardson and D.J. Hicks. Yet Griffin then hit into a 5-4-3 double play and Chris Taladay grounded out. FAU then attempted to get its third run in the bottom half, placing a runner at second when there was one out only to have Matt Collins retire the next two Owls.
The scoring opportunities continued in the seventh as Beau Taylor got it started with a single and traveled to third with one down on a pair of wild pitches from reliever Glen Troyanowski. After the righty plunked Breen on a one-hopper into his legs, Shreve struck out and Sweeney grounded out to first.
Another chance lost for the Knights, FAU finally grabbed its first lead in the bottom of the seventh, kicking off the stanza with two singles. Nick Cicio stepped in from the pen and the Owls produced a base hit to load them up and secured a 3-2 lead on a sac fly from Bukovich.
And that stood up as the FAU pitching staff shut down the Knights offense the rest of the way.
The Knights and Owls will meet again in Orlando April 19, however up next for the Black and Gold is a three-game Conference USA series at East Carolina Friday-Sunday.
Game Notes
UCF - 21-12 Overall
FAU - 20-13 Overall
-NCAA released its latest RPI report and UCF sits at No. 29 in the country this week. Six of the nine C-USA baseball schools are in the top-52, while eight programs are in the top-73.
-With Darnell Sweeney getting his 10th of the year, the Knights have three different players with at least 10 stolen bases this season (Travis Shreve with 19, Ronnie Richardson and Sweeney with 10).
-Of UCF's 12 losses in 2011, seven of them have been by two runs or less.