May 9, 2013
UCF Athletics Social Media Directory
By Eric DeSalvo
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - In the midst a tight race for the Conference USA regular season title, the UCF baseball team will look to keep pace in the league when it takes on Tulane in the home weekend finale of 2013 beginning Friday night at 6:30 p.m.
Playing in front of the UCF (27-22, 11-7) faithful for the final time in their careers, 12 members of the 2013 squad will be honored prior to Sunday's series finale at 1 p.m.
This year's Senior Day will be extra special as five members from head coach Terry Rooney's first recruiting class will be among the 12 honored, including Gregg Cooke, Austin Johnston, Ryan Breen, Brian Adkins and Chris Taladay.
These guys have done a terrific job. The leadership, and what they have done for this program-they are directly responsible for bringing UCF baseball back to national prominence, Rooney said about his senior class.
Those guys have just been instrumental to this program. It's not just what the fans see on the field. Off the field, they have been great leaders and ambassadors. It is very important to me that they go out on a great winning streak.
Also to be honored Sunday will be Nick Carrillo, Erik Hempe, Jeramy Matos, Chris Matulis, Shawn McDorman, Jimmy Reed and student manager Josh Levine.
Members of the 2013 senior class have seen the Knights put together some of the best seasons in program history. UCF has appeared in its 10th and 11th NCAA Regionals while also tying its highest ranking in program history, No. 7 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll on April 23, 2012. The Knights have also beat many of the best teams in the nation with 12 victories over top-25 opponents since 2010.
This weekend against the Green Wave (25-24, 8-10), UCF will look to keep pace in the top of the league, just 1.5 games behind leader Southern Miss, by sending out RHP Ben Lively (6-3, 1.26 ERA) and LHP Chris Matulis (5-3, 3.56 ERA) to pitch on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Tulane will counter with RHP Alex Byo (3-4, 2.89 ERA), LHP David Napoli (4-2, 2.08 ERA) and RHP Randy LeBlanc (4-3, 4.66 ERA).
Trending Topics: @UCF_Baseball
• The Knights will be looking to extend their four-game win streak over Tulane after taking all four in 2012 #SeasonSweep
• With 262-career hits, 3B/C Chris Taladay is in sole possession of No. 6 on the #UCF all-time hit list #SprayChart
• Taladay's 20-game hit streak, which ranked 4th all-time at #UCF, came to an end, but he has a hit in all but 6 games #Clutch
• Speaking of Taladay, the Windermere native has reached safely in 30 straight games, the 11th-longest in the nation this year #SafeAndSound
• RHP Ben Lively owns an ERA of 1.26, and is on pace to shatter the lowest ERA by a #UCF starter in school history #JustinPopeTerritory
• LHP Brian Adkins tossed his 3rd straight quality start, going 7.1 IP at #8 FSU and now has gone 20.1 IP with just 2 earned runs #CraftyVet
• Rookie RHP Zac Favre is tied for 5th at UCF with his 28 appearances on the mound in 2013 with the season record at 34 #ArmOfSteel
• #UCF has had a knack for scoring late in ball games by totaling 45 8th-inning runs, the most of any frame in 2013 #WinTheLast3
Single-game tickets can be purchased by calling 407-UCF-1000 or visit the baseball tickets page. Stay up-to-date on all the latest news by visiting UCFAthletics.com and following the team on Twitter (@UCF_Baseball) and Facebook.