Feb. 21, 2012
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By Eric DeSalvo
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Just three games into the 2012 season, the No. 19 UCF baseball team will face the nation's top squad when it travels to Gainesville to take on No. 1 Florida Wednesday night at 7 p.m. The game will be televised live on Fox Sports Florida.
Head coach Terry Rooney's team has had some success as of late against the Gators, sweeping the season series in 2011 with a dramatic come-from-behind 4-3 victory on the road and an 8-6 triumph back at the UCF baseball complex.
UCF Against the Nation's Best Under Rooney
- 5/8/09, 5-0, at #2 Rice
- 3/23/10, 6-3, at #12 Miami
- 2/27/11, 12-4, vs. #29 Alabama
- 3/25/11, 7-2, at #23 Rice
- 3/27/11, 5-4, at #23 Rice
- 3/29-11, 8-2, #20 Stetson
- 4/5/11, 4-3, at #4 Florida
- 4/20/11, 8-6, #5 Florida
- 5/7/11, 14-10, at #6 Florida State
- 5/17/11, 7-6, #21 Stetson
Fresh Faces
- RHP Roman Madrid, LHP Eric Skoglund, RHP Garrett Nuss, LHP Chris Matulis and LHP Jimmy Reed all had successful UCF debuts last weekend against LIU Brooklyn
- Skoglund and Nuss both pitched a pair of scoreless innings with three strikeouts a piece in Game 2 for their collegiate debuts
- Madrid worked a hitless eighth with two strikeouts in Game 1 while Reed closed out the series with a scoreless ninth in Game 3
- Matulis, making his first collegiate start since April of 2010 with LSU, went six strong innings and allowed only four hits while striking out five
- It was the first collegiate victory for Matulis since April 2, 2010
Error-Free Ball
- UCF swept LIU Brooklyn and played error-free during the three games
- In 2011, the Knights's fielding percentage of .978 was the single-best season in school history
- Each season under Rooney, the Knights have increased their fielding percentage: .958 (2009), .963 (2010) .978 (2011)