Baseball Cruises Past FIU
6-2 In Season Opener
With the win, UCF improved to 1-0 while FIU dropped to
1-3.
The Golden Panthers scored first in the second inning when Bryan Pullin hit a
solo home run to right field. Fox fanned the first four batters of the game
before Pullin’s homer. Fox responded with two strikeouts to close out the
second, giving him six through two innings of work.
The Golden Knights tied the contest in the fourth on a RBI-single by Dee Brown.
Brown drove in Clay Timpner, who tripled to right-center to reach base.
Pullin hit his second home run of the game in the fourth to give FIU the lead
again at 2-1.
UCF tied the game again in the fifth when David Mann singled to left field,
bringing home Ryan Bono.
The Golden Knights took the lead for good in the sixth with a three-run
outburst. Freshman pinch hitter Bridger Hunt came through with the big hit, as
the Oviedo product drilled a RBI-double to the left-center field gap for his
first collegiate hit to give the Knights a 3-2 lead. Later in the inning, Dave
Lambert walked with the bases loaded to force in a run and Mann reached on an
error to plate another run.
The 5-2 margin was more than enough for UCF closer Kyle Bono. The sophomore
right-hander pitched a perfect three innings for the save with three strikeouts.
Marshall Bernhard was 2-for-3 with a RBI-single and walk in his first game with
the Knights. Bernhard’s RBI-single in the eighth was the final run of the game
for the victors.
UCF looks to close out the two-game sweep Sunday in the series finale. Junior
left-handed pitcher Jaime Douglas will get the nod on the hill for UCF. First
pitch is set for 1 p.m. at University Park in Miami and can be heard live on
WNSC.
Baseball Sweeps FIU With 8-6 Win
MIAMI -UCF sophomore Drew Butera finished
3-for-5 including the game-winning RBI in the top of the ninth inning to propel
UCF to a 6-2 victory over Florida International Sunday in Miami. The Golden
Knights erased a 6-2 deficit with five shutout innings from their bullpen to
improve to 2-0 on the year while FIU dropped to 1-4.
Freshman pitcher Tim Bascom was dominant, pitching the final two innings without
allowing a hit with two strikeouts for his first collegiate victory. The loss
was credited to FIU’s Derek DeCarlo, who was 17-0 in his career entering the
contest.
The Golden Knights got on the scoreboard first with one run in the second.
Marshall Bernhard got things started with a two-out, RBI-single to left field to
score Butera, giving the Knights a 1-0 lead.
Florida International answered with one swing in the home half of the second as
Adrian Casanova hit a two-run home run to right field to give the Golden
Panthers a 2-1 lead. FIU continued its two-out rally as Luis Rivera sliced a
single to center field, giving FIU a 3-1 advantage.
Dee Brown drove in his second run in as many games in the third inning with a
RBI-single to left field to score Chandler Rose, cutting the deficit to 3-2.
Florida International used just one hit to score three runs in the fourth to
extend its lead to 6-2. The Golden Panthers took advantage of two UCF errors, a
hit batsman, and a walk to lead to the three-run outburst.
UCF got three runs back via an error in the fifth when FIU first baseman Michael
Lopez committed an error on a Clay Timpner ground ball, to score Ryan Bono. Bono
started the UCF rally with a pinch-hit single to center field. The two-out error
proved costly for the Golden Panthers, as Butera followed drilled a RBI-single
to right field to cut the lead to 6-4. FIU pitcher Andrew Edwards then uncorked
a wild pitch to the next batter, scoring Timpner, to cut the lead to 6-5.
The Golden Knights tied the game in the sixth inning when David Mann laced a
RBI-single to left, scoring Dave Lambert, to even the score at six.
UCF finally came all the way back from a 6-2 deficit in the ninth inning when
Butera drilled a RBI-single to center, scoring Brown. Brown reached base to
start the inning on an error by P.J. Lehmann, who transferred to FIU from UCF
after the 2003 season. Dave Lambert added a key insurance run with a two-out,
RBI-single through the left side to plate Butera, giving UCF an 8-6 lead.
Butera scored two runs and drove in a pair while Marshall Bernhard and Chandler
Rose each finished with two hits each.
The Golden Knights return to action next weekend at home vs. No. 2 LSU. The
three-game series vs. the Tigers begins Friday at 6 p.m. at Jay Bergman Field.
For ticket information, please call the UCF ticket office at 407-823-GOLD.
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