April 16, 2008

Oviedo, FL (UWIRE) -- Gray and rainy conditions loomed over Jay Bergman Field for the majority of the UCF Baseball team's game Sunday versus Memphis, but the Knights were left basking in the glow of victory after defeating the Tigers 10-4 for their first Conference USA series win of 2008.

One of the Knights' goals for this season is to finish at the .500 mark at least in conference play. Entering Sunday's game, the Knights were 3-8 in Conference USA and had lost its first four conference series, so they hope this is the start of a trend.

"We knew coming into today that we had to get a W in order to stay in the conference race," UCF outfielder Colin Arnold said.

The Knights won the rubber match against the Tigers with the help of some solid hitting early and solid pitching late.

With a runner on second base and two out in the first inning, back-to-back doubles by Eric Kallstrom and Chris Duffy put the Knights up 2-0. Evan Stobbs hit the next pitch to right field, to score Duffy.

After Stobbs moved up to second on a wild pitch, Chadd Hartman smacked a single that snuck under the glove of second baseman Eric Farrell and into center field, giving UCF another run. Tyson Auer then recorded a hit of his own to put runners on first and third.

Then, as the 1-0 pitch to Josh Siebenaler crossed the plate for a strike, Auer broke for second. Memphis catcher Chris Kirkland attempted to throw him out, but he stopped in the middle of base path and bolted back to first. Not only was Auer able to make it back safely, but while the Tigers were distracted, Hartman ran to the plate and collected UCF's first steal of home since Auer swiped it on March 6, 2005.

Memphis starting pitcher Will Hudgens, who also plays quarterback on the Tigers' football team, ran into more trouble in the next inning as his accuracy decreased. He faced three batters in the second; he hit one with a pitch and walked another. Hudgens was taken out of the game at that point after allowing seven hits in 1.1 innings.

Tigers' relief pitcher Ryan Holland was able to strike out the first batter he faced, but Stobbs came up next and he was able to crush a changeup down the left-field line for a three-run home run.

The home run gave the Knights an 8-0 lead and gave Stobbs four RBIs before the end of the second inning.

Stobbs, who can also be an effective pitcher, had not seen much playing time at the plate until first baseman Shane Brown was forced out of action 10 days ago with a torn meniscus.

Stobbs took full advantage against the Tigers, going 7-for-13 in the series with four runs and seven RBIs.

"I just go out and try to not put too much pressure on myself since no one is [available at first base] for competition," Stobbs said.

That lack of competition is all due to injury. Brown filled in for Kiko Vazquez when he broke his forearm prior to the season. Brown was one of the Knights' top offensive weapons when healthy, and now Stobbs is playing in Brown's place.

He had just 20 at bats on the season entering the Memphis series and although Brown may return to the lineup in about two weeks, it will be tough to put Stobbs on the bench if he keeps hitting like he did this past weekend.

"We saw him do that all fall," Arnold said about Stobbs. "He was hitting balls off the wall, over the wall, everywhere. So it's great for him just to come out and show what he can do, really."

The Tigers closed the gap with three runs in the sixth inning, but the Knights came back with a run in each of the sixth and seventh innings.

The Tigers mustered just two hits in the game. UCF starting pitcher Carmine Giardina has been alternating good starts with the bad ones for most of the season. His start Sunday had some flaws, but his nine strikeouts and the ability to limit the Tigers to just one run over six innings of work meant that this start fell into the good category.

Still, Giardina needs some more tuning his control. While he allowed only two hits, he walked five batters and hit four more with pitches. But some of that can be blamed on the moderately heavy rain that fell during the middle innings.

Matt Manning earned his first save of the season by pitching the final three innings and retiring all nine batters he faced.

"How about him?" UCF coach Jay Bergman said about Manning. "Nine up, and nine down, how about him? It was really good."

The Knights were scheduled to face North Florida in Jacksonville on Tuesday night, but results were not available at press time. A game recap will be available in Friday's edition of the Future.

The Knights don't hit the playing field again until Friday in Huntington, W. Va. when they open a three-game set against Marshall (14-19 overall, 4-7 in conference).

Friday's game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m., and Saturday's game is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. Sunday's scheduled start time is unusually early at 10 a.m.

(C) 2008 Central Florida Future via UWIRE