2008 Woodie Awards
UCF opens C-USA play by splitting two against USM
Brian Murphy
Issue date: 3/24/08 Section: Sports
The UCF Baseball team matched its season loss total in its first Conference USA game, falling 8-4 at Southern Miss on Friday. But the Knights rebounded nicely Saturday with a 15-4 victory.
"I think the guys were determined to bounce back after yesterday and they did," UCF coach Jay Bergman said in a press release.
The Knights' offense started slow Saturday after being limited to just four hits through eight innings by Southern Miss pitcher Barry Bowden in Friday's series opener. The Knights (20-2 overall, 1-1 in C-USA) mustered just one hit through the first three innings against pitcher David Clark before suddenly exploding for 11 runs over the following two innings.
Ryan Richardson got the Knights on the scoreboard when he hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded, scoring Tyson Auer. UCF then needed some two-out hits to extend its lead.
Tim Russell followed Richardson with a RBI single through the right side to drive in Colin Arnold. Eric Kallstrom delivered the big hit of the inning when he laced a 1-0 pitch into the right-center field gap for a two-run double.
Clark was able to survive the fourth inning but he wouldn't even record an out in the fifth after he issued a leadoff walk to Josh Siebenaler, a single to Dwayne Bailey and a single to Auer, which drove in Siebenaler.
Wade Weathers replaced Clark, but he didn't last long as he allowed singles to Colin Arnold, Shane Brown and Richardson, which pushed UCF's lead up to 7-0. Weathers' day was over, but the Knights weren't done yet in the fifth.
The newest Southern Miss pitcher, JR Ballinger, was greeted by Russell smacking a two-run single up the middle. When the fifth inning was over, the Knights had scored seven runs on six hits, all singles.
UCF pitcher Kyle Sweat made the Knights' big lead stand up with five shutout innings. He gave up only four hits and had four strikeouts. Sweat went to the mound in the sixth inning, but a finger blister that developed on his right hand cut his day short. Sweat went back to the dugout after a meeting with the Knights' trainer.
"I think the guys were determined to bounce back after yesterday and they did," UCF coach Jay Bergman said in a press release.
The Knights' offense started slow Saturday after being limited to just four hits through eight innings by Southern Miss pitcher Barry Bowden in Friday's series opener. The Knights (20-2 overall, 1-1 in C-USA) mustered just one hit through the first three innings against pitcher David Clark before suddenly exploding for 11 runs over the following two innings.
Ryan Richardson got the Knights on the scoreboard when he hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded, scoring Tyson Auer. UCF then needed some two-out hits to extend its lead.
Tim Russell followed Richardson with a RBI single through the right side to drive in Colin Arnold. Eric Kallstrom delivered the big hit of the inning when he laced a 1-0 pitch into the right-center field gap for a two-run double.
Clark was able to survive the fourth inning but he wouldn't even record an out in the fifth after he issued a leadoff walk to Josh Siebenaler, a single to Dwayne Bailey and a single to Auer, which drove in Siebenaler.
Wade Weathers replaced Clark, but he didn't last long as he allowed singles to Colin Arnold, Shane Brown and Richardson, which pushed UCF's lead up to 7-0. Weathers' day was over, but the Knights weren't done yet in the fifth.
The newest Southern Miss pitcher, JR Ballinger, was greeted by Russell smacking a two-run single up the middle. When the fifth inning was over, the Knights had scored seven runs on six hits, all singles.
UCF pitcher Kyle Sweat made the Knights' big lead stand up with five shutout innings. He gave up only four hits and had four strikeouts. Sweat went to the mound in the sixth inning, but a finger blister that developed on his right hand cut his day short. Sweat went back to the dugout after a meeting with the Knights' trainer.