UCF baseball update: Golden Knights take 2 of 3 from Rutgers before being swept at home by Houston

CUSA Fans UCF sports correspondent Ryan Westin provides us with an update on the 2007 UCF baseball team.

UCF was able to win their last non conference series of the season 2-1 over Rutgers. However, they were not so fortunate when Houston came to town this past weekend, as they were swept by the Cougars. The Golden Knights are now 14-13 overall, but are 0-3 in Conference USA play. The Rutgers Scarlet Knights fell to 7-10 after their series with UCF and the Cougars are now 14-12 this year and 3-0 in CUSA.

Golden Knights Take Series from Scarlet Knights (March 16-18)

Game One—UCF 10 Rutgers 8
UCF was able to keep its winning streak going when they climbed out of a huge hole to extend their winning streak to seven games. Rutgers jumped out to an 8-1 lead after 4.5 innings of play.
The Knights would go onto to not only hold Rutgers scoreless the rest of the way but they scored nine runs to pull off the miraculous comeback victory. UCF began their rally in the fifth inning when they tied the game with seven runs. Brian Brooks shut down the Rutgers offense, as he shut down the opposition for four innings to notch his second win of the season. He allowed only two hits.

"The maturity and the growth of our players made them realize that seven runs doesn't mean anything in college baseball," said Bergman. "The seven runs we got were huge. And of course the two runs (in the eighth) were huge. And then Brian Brooks just settled the whole thing down."

Game Two—Rutgers 4 UCF 3
UCF's winning streak would be no more at the end of this contest as the Scarlet Knights were able to put up three runs in the 1st inning and not let the Knights back into the game like on Friday. Rutgers pitcher Steve Healing allowed only two runs and picked up his second win of the season. He worked 6.2 innings before Kevin Lillis finished the day by holding the Knights scoreless in his 2.1 innings of mound time.

UCF did not commit an error, but its bats were held in check. The Knights were only able to tally five hits in the game. Eric Kallstrom picked up 2 RBI's in the game and was 2-of-4 in the loss, but Rutgers pitching duo would not allow much more from UCF. Mitch Houck struck out eight in the loss, but is now 1-4 on the season after allowing four runs in the contest.

Houston’s Pitching Shuts Down UCF, Golden Knights Suffer Sweep

After winning its last two series, UCF was handled rather easily by Houston. The Golden Knights were not able to really get going offensively in their series with the Cougars, as they only plated four runs in three games. Meanwhile, UH scored 20 runs.

Game One—Houston 10 UCF 2
UCF opened conference play on Friday against the Cougars and after the first inning it appeared that the Knights were going to have their hands full this weekend. Houston set the tone with a five-run first inning and finished the night by outhitting UCF, 12-5.

Brett Bordine only lasted one inning against Houston, allowing five runs against the ten batters he faced. He walked four batters in the game. The loss was Bordine's first of the season and he is now 2-1 on the year. UCF fell behind 10-0 before they finally got on the scoreboard.

Houston's starter Aaron Brown went 8 innings, allowing only 5 hits while improving his record to 3-1 on the season. Brown did not give up a hit until the sixth batter he faced. Barry Laird came in to seal the deal with a scoreless ninth inning for the victory.

UCF returned to their error committing ways, as they committed four in the loss. Tyson Auer stole his 15 th base of the year and Kyle Maulbetsch was stellar on the mound. Maulbetsch pitched three scoreless innings in relief and only gave up one hit.

Game Two— Houston 3 UCF 0
Game two featured UCF getting blanked for the first time this season. For the second consecutive game, UCF was only able to record five hits against the Cougars impressive
pitching. Houston only had five hits as well, but they were able to efficient and convert those opportunities into runs.

Mitch Houck was the starter for the Knights, as he picked up his fifth loss of the season and is now 1-5 on the year. Houck pitched 2.1 innings before leaving the game with an injury. Houston's starter Wes Musick went 8 shutout innings and struck out ten batters.

As in game one of the series, UCF went down early and was not able to muster any offense to mount a rally. The Golden Knights’ pitching staff shut the Cougars out for the last five innings, but they did not receive any run support. Derek Abriola and Brian Brooks combined for 6.2 innings, giving up one run and only three hits to close the contest.

Game Three— Houston 7 UCF 2
On Sunday, Houston’s pitching shutdown UCF for a third consecutive day and the Cougars recorded the sweep. In what seemed to be eerily similar to game one of the series, Houston limited the Knights early in the game while building a working margin. The Cougars led 5-0 going into the bottom of the 7th when UCF got their only runs of the game. Unfortunately, the Cougars were able to match the Knights by scoring two runs in the top of the eight to put the game away and clinch the brooming.

Jaagar Good put in 5.2 innings on the mound, allowing five runs and seven hits. Good is now 3-2 on the year. Good kept the Knights in the game until Cougars’ shortstop Brian Pounds hit a double to left center with the bases loaded in the sixth, driving in three runs and ending his winning streak. Matt McClung came on in relief of Good.

Kiko Vazquez was able to put together a nice outing from the plate, picking up three of UCF's nine hits. He concluded the day 3-of-5 from the plate.

The rest of the offense was all from the Houston. The Cougars were led by first baseman Josh Stirneman, who had a solo homer and finished the day 2-of-3 from the plate while scoring three runs.

Houston's pitching staff was able to hold UCF's bats at bay again, while giving the Cougars an opportunity to take their time building a lead that really did not develop until Pounds three-run double in the sixth. Freshman John Touchton received the start for the Cougars and allowed only three hits in six innings of action. Touchton, a Houston native, is now 2-2 on the year and seems be adapting very quickly to the jump from high school to Division One ball.

UCF now has two mid week games against Harvard and Stetson before continuing their conference slate at UAB this week. The Knights will look to get back into the conference race by stealing the series in Birmingham.