April 15, 2011
| UCF vs. East Carolina April 15, 2011 |
| From Greenville, N.C. | |||||
| Team | R | H | E | ||
| UCF | 6 | 10 | 0 | ||
| ECU | 12 | 13 | 0 | ||
WP: Maness (5-3), 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
LP: Lively (5-1), 2.0 IP, 5 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 3 BB, 1 K
SV: None
Game-Changing Moment
After scoring once in the second to make it 3-1, UCF witnessed East Carolina score six more times in the third to put the game away.
Three Stars
First: ECU SS Jack Reinheimer, 4-for-4, 2 RBI, 2 R
Second: ECU SP Seth Maness, WP, 6.0 IP, 1 R, 3 K
Third: ECU C Zach Wright, 3-for-4, 2 RBI, 2 R
By Brian Ormiston
UCFAthletics.com
GREENVILLE, N.C. (UCFAthletics.com) - In game one at East Carolina, UCF fell behind early en route to a 12-6 defeat Friday in Greenville, N.C. The loss dropped the Knights' record to 21-13 on the year and 3-7 in Conference USA, while the Pirates bumped up to 23-11 and 5-5.
In his first-career game batting from the No. 9 hole, junior catcher Beau Taylor was 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles, three RBI and two runs scored. Darnell Sweeney also collected two hits and drove in a pair.
Two pitches was all the Pirates needed to take a 1-0 lead as Ben Fultz sent a 0-1 pitch from Ben Lively over the wall in right-center for a solo homer. The freshman righty, who had previously worked at least 5.0 innings in all seven starts this year, then had two walks, three wild pitches and gave up another hit to take a 3-0 cushion.
When the game reached the top of the second, Jonathan Griffin and Chris Taladay greeted righty Seth Maness with leadoff doubles however Griffin had to hold up to see if Taladay's was going to be caught. So with runners at second and third, Erik Hempe grounded out to third but Derek Luciano came through with a sacrifice fly to cut it to 3-1.
Yet Lively could not get through the third. He surrendered a run before loading the bases with no outs, then watched as Corey Thompson ripped a two-run single to right. Down 6-1, UCF went to the pen and the Pirates tacked on three more in the third and another in the fourth to push it to 10-1.
When Maness was relieved in the seventh by Tanner Merritt, the Knights added three two-out runs. Started up with singles from Hempe and Luciano, Taylor drove them in on a double to the left-center gap and Sweeney brought around Taylor with a single to right.
Following ECU's two runs in the home half of the seventh, UCF plated two more two-out runs in the ninth to complete the scoring.
The Knights and Pirates will resume their series with game two Saturday at 11 a.m. (originally scheduled for 5 p.m. but moved due to the threat of inclement weather).
Game Notes
UCF - 21-13 Overall, 3-7 C-USA
East Carolina - 23-11 Overall, 5-5 C-USA
-UCF fell to 0-10 all-time at East Carolina.
-The Pirates outhit the Knights, 13-10.
-Brennan Dobbins pitched 1.1 scoreless innings of relief with a strikeout.
-Bryan Brown worked 4.2 innings out of the pen, coming close to matching his career-high of 5.0 innings.
-Jonathan Griffin's bid for a home run in his fifth-straight game fell short. He finished 1-for-3 with a walk and a run.