April 13, 2012
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By Eric DeSalvo
UCFAthletics.com
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (UCFAthletics.com) - In a contest that featured 13.5 scoreless innings, the No. 13 UCF baseball team was unable to come away with its league-leading eighth win Friday night as Southern Miss took the series opener, 1-0 (14). The Knights (28-8, 7-3) will look to even up the series Saturday at 4 p.m. EDT.
Pinch-hitter Mason Robbins' RBI bloop double along the left-field line was all the Golden Eagles (20-13, 4-3) needed in a pitcher's duel that saw 12 1-2-3 innings combined and just 14 hits.
From the game's onset, the 3,638 fans in attendance were treated to a gem by starters Brian Adkins and USM's Andrew Pierce. Adkins went seven scoreless and allowed just three hits while striking out three and Pierce notched nine run-free frames with 10 strikeouts and five hits allowed.
After starting the game with a 3-0 count to the leadoff batter, Adkins mowed down the Golden Eagles by allowing just two base hits through five innings. In the fourth, after walking his only batter, the Orlando native got some help from his defense when Darnell Sweeney, Travis Shreve and D.J. Hicks turned a 6-4-3 double play to end the frame.
In the sixth, Adkins buckled down after giving up a one-out single and a Golden Eagle batter reaching on catcher's interference to get through the frame unscathed. He stranded a runner on third after inducing a groundout to Hicks and flyout to Woods in left field.
UCF had a chance to drive home runs in the eighth inning after two-straight singles by Shreve and Ronnie Richardson and Sweeney reaching on an error. With the bags chock-full, Hicks and Pierce battled to a 3-2 count after three-straight balls to open the at-bat. On the eighth pitch, Pierce got Hicks to swing through a fastball to end the frame.
After a scoreless frame by Roman Madrid in relief of Adkins and two zeros on the board by Joe Rogers, it was high drama in the bottom of the 11th. Ben Lively ran into trouble with a one-out walk followed by an intentional base on balls and single to shallow center to load the bags. Lively wouldn't be phased by the pressure as he struck out Dillon Day swinging and froze Isaac Rodriguez on three straight down the plate to exit the jam.
After just a single by Breen during the next three frames, the Golden Eagles cashed in on the Robbins' double to score Rodriquez and take game one.
News & Notes
-It was the longest game for UCF since they won in 16 innings against Monmouth on March 9, 2008
-Travis Shreve registered seven assists while manning second base
-Rogers made his 63rd-career relief appearance and moved into sole possession of sixth on the all-time list at UCF
-Breen, Alex Friedrich and Chris Taladay extended their hitting streaks to six games