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Baseball Looks Ahead to Home Tilt with Bethune-Cookman Wednesday

May 10, 2011

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By Brian Ormiston
UCFAthletics.com

ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - UCF's string of five-straight non-conference games wraps up at home Wednesday against Bethune-Cookman at 6:30 p.m. The Knights (29-19) have a RPI of No. 28 as they are making a push for a spot in the postseason, and it will be `80s Night at the park vs. the Wildcats.

Game Notes in PDF Format

Midweek Schedule:
Wednesday vs. Bethune-Cookman - Orlando, Fla. - 6:30 p.m.
Records:
Bethune-Cookman - 32-20 Overall, 18-0 MEAC
UCF - 29-19 Overall, 7-11 C-USA
Stadium:
Jay Bergman Field (2,230)
Series:
UCF Leads, 67-14
Live Coverage:
UCFAthletics.com and Twitter.com/UCF_Baseball

Upcoming Opponent
-Bethune-Cookman will complete its regular season Wednesday after it went a perfect 18-0 in MEAC play this year. Before meeting the Knights, it will clash with Jacksonville Tuesday evening.
-Holding a 32-20 overall record, the Wildcats are hitting .287 with Preseason All-American catcher Peter O'Brien crushing 12 homers and driving in 57.
-Bethune-Cookman carries a 4.34 team ERA and has only allowed more than four runs once in its last 10 games.

The Series
-The Black and Gold took a 67-14 lead in the series with its 13-0 victory in Daytona Beach Feb. 22.
-In the win, the Knights had 19 hits including 10 of the extra-base variety, while seven different pitchers combined to limit B-CU to just two hits.
-UCF has won six in a row over the Wildcats since 2006.

D-I Programs in the State of Florida
-Eight of the 13 Division I programs in the state of Florida are ranked in the top-52 in RPI.
-UCF has a 7-5 record (.583) against Florida schools this year, and is the only team to face Florida, Florida State and Miami.
-UCF's strength of schedule is No. 20 nationally, trailing only Florida (No. 3) and Florida State (No. 10).
-Best records vs. D-I Florida programs (with RPI listed):
1) No. 6 Florida State - 11-4 - .733
2) No. 12 Stetson - 12-5 - .706
3) No. 1 Florida - 10-5 - .667
4) No. 28 UCF - 7-5 - .583
5) No. 22 Miami - 7-7 - .500
No. 52 FAU - 5-5 - .500
No. 33 FIU - 4-4 - .500
8) No. 120 B-CU - 10-12 - .455
9) No. 73 USF - 9-11 - .450
10) No. 49 JU - 6-8 - .429
11) No. 117 FGCU - 8-12 - .400
12) No. 81 UNF - 4-9 - .308
13) No. 295 FAMU - 0-7 - .000

Ronnie's Monster Week
-Center fielder Ronnie Richardson's average dropped to .298 after game two vs. Houston April 30, and that was when the calendar changed.
-On May 1, the sophomore went 1-for-2 in the finale with the Cougars before busting out in the four-game week at South Florida and Florida State.
-Richardson had a .533 average by going 8-for-15 with two doubles, five runs and three RBI during the first week of May. That was highlighted by a 3-for-4, three-run day at FSU May 7. On his third hit, he used his legs to beat out an infield single to drive in a run with two outs in a seven-run seventh inning.
-For the season, Richardson now has a .320 average.

A Lethal Combination - Part I
-UCF is the only program among the top-five baseball conferences (C-USA, SEC, ACC, Big 12, Pac-10) with a pair of sluggers who have 12 home runs or more in Jonathan Griffin (13) and D.J. Hicks (12).
-Of the 53 schools in the top-five leagues, only eight have at least one player with 10 or more homers. UCF and Florida are the only two programs with two players who have hit at least 10 dingers.

A Lethal Combination - Part II
-Griffin and Hicks both rank in the top-10 in C-USA in batting average, slugging, hits, RBI, homers and total bases.
-That includes ranking first and second, respectively in home runs and slugging.
-Of Hicks' 12 home runs, eight of them have occurred when there were two strikes.
-Conversely, Griffin has hit nine of his 13 dingers when there were no strikes.

Notes Following UCF's 14-10 Win at FSU May 7
-UCF has three wins over top-10 teams (two vs. Florida, one vs. FSU).
-It is the first year since 1987 that UCF defeated Florida State and Florida in the same season.
-The 14 runs were the most given up by FSU in a regular-season non-conference game since it surrendered 16 runs vs. Florida April 3, 2007.
-UCF is 5-1 on television this season.
-Game time was 3:48, the longest of the year for UCF.

Fill Them Up
-With the bases loaded this season, UCF is hitting .375 with three grand slams (Beau Taylor, D.J. Hicks, Jonathan Griffin).
-Ronnie Richardson (3-for-5), Travis Shreve (3-for-6) and Hicks (3-for-8) all lead the way with three hits when the bases are filled with Knights.

Useless Stat of the Day
-Wednesday starter Johnny Sedlock has not tossed a wild pitch in 74.2 innings in two years as a Knight.

NCAA Statistics
-Entering the week, the Knights are 11th in the nation in doubles (111), 19th in homers (41), 25th in fielding (.976), 27th in slugging (.452) and 33rd in hits (500).
-Jonathan Griffin (13) sits in 17th individually in home runs while D.J. Hicks (12) is in 26th.