Saturday, April 25, 2009
Last-place UCF crushes UAB 29-9
When I write about a baseball game, I always bring 2 pencils to keep score. That wasn't enough Friday night, as Central Florida destroyed both my writing array and the record book on the way to a 29-9 rout over UAB at Young Memorial Field.
The Knights' onslaught began in the top of the first, with Colin Arnold hitting a leadoff single and Shane Brown being hit by a pitch. Right Fielder Brandon Romans took advantage with a 3 run homer. UCF never looked back, blasting their way to a school-record 29 runs on 28 hits. Both previous highs were 27, and both records had stood since UCF (then Florida Tech) played Florida Memorial on April 14th, 1979.
Unfortunately for Blazer fans, the game broke UAB records too. 26 earned runs were the most since UAB traveled to Cincinnati 16 years ago to the day – April 24th, 1993. 3 errors were a season high for the UAB fielders, as well. UCF's total was only one short of UAB's all time runs allowed record of 30 (against UA on April 14th, 1999).
The culprit was pitching for the Blazers. Starter Beau Pender pitched 4 innings, giving up 7 earned runs, while walking 2 and striking out 3. UAB was still relatively close before reliever Robert Brewster gave up 12 earned runs through only one inning of work. Although Brewster only recorded 1 inning, he also pitched to 7 Knight hitters in the 6th without recording an out.
After Brewster, the Blazers took on a Yankees-like quality, allowing position players Austin Taylor, Ben Drust, and Andrew Manning to pitch the rest of the game (Yankees outfielder Nick Swisher pitched an inning against the Rays earlier this week). That was as far as the comparison would go, however, as the three combined to give up 7 more earned runs over the final 4 innings of the game.
UCF's league high staff ERA of 8.20 never materialized until well after the game was out of reach. With long layoffs between innings, the UAB hitters never found rhythm and went very quietly until the 7th. Only Andrew Manning hit well for the Blazers, going 3 for 4 with a home run and 3 RBIs.
Among other UAB contributors were Left Fielder Cody McMurray, who went 2-5 - also plating 3, and First Baseman Luke Stewart who was also 2-5, and had 2 RBI's.
The win bumps the last-place Golden Knights to 4-9 in conference, 14-25 overall. UCF is now in 8th place, off of the bottom of the league, while Memphis moves down to 9th. UAB falls to 5-8 in C-USA and 23-19 overall. UAB remains in 6th place in the league, eligible for the end of season conference tournament.
The series will continue Saturday afternoon at 2PM at Jerry D. Young Memorial Field on the campus of UAB.
The Knights' onslaught began in the top of the first, with Colin Arnold hitting a leadoff single and Shane Brown being hit by a pitch. Right Fielder Brandon Romans took advantage with a 3 run homer. UCF never looked back, blasting their way to a school-record 29 runs on 28 hits. Both previous highs were 27, and both records had stood since UCF (then Florida Tech) played Florida Memorial on April 14th, 1979.
Unfortunately for Blazer fans, the game broke UAB records too. 26 earned runs were the most since UAB traveled to Cincinnati 16 years ago to the day – April 24th, 1993. 3 errors were a season high for the UAB fielders, as well. UCF's total was only one short of UAB's all time runs allowed record of 30 (against UA on April 14th, 1999).
The culprit was pitching for the Blazers. Starter Beau Pender pitched 4 innings, giving up 7 earned runs, while walking 2 and striking out 3. UAB was still relatively close before reliever Robert Brewster gave up 12 earned runs through only one inning of work. Although Brewster only recorded 1 inning, he also pitched to 7 Knight hitters in the 6th without recording an out.
After Brewster, the Blazers took on a Yankees-like quality, allowing position players Austin Taylor, Ben Drust, and Andrew Manning to pitch the rest of the game (Yankees outfielder Nick Swisher pitched an inning against the Rays earlier this week). That was as far as the comparison would go, however, as the three combined to give up 7 more earned runs over the final 4 innings of the game.
UCF's league high staff ERA of 8.20 never materialized until well after the game was out of reach. With long layoffs between innings, the UAB hitters never found rhythm and went very quietly until the 7th. Only Andrew Manning hit well for the Blazers, going 3 for 4 with a home run and 3 RBIs.
Among other UAB contributors were Left Fielder Cody McMurray, who went 2-5 - also plating 3, and First Baseman Luke Stewart who was also 2-5, and had 2 RBI's.
The win bumps the last-place Golden Knights to 4-9 in conference, 14-25 overall. UCF is now in 8th place, off of the bottom of the league, while Memphis moves down to 9th. UAB falls to 5-8 in C-USA and 23-19 overall. UAB remains in 6th place in the league, eligible for the end of season conference tournament.
The series will continue Saturday afternoon at 2PM at Jerry D. Young Memorial Field on the campus of UAB.
# posted by Chris Rodgers @ 4/25/2009 12:22:00 AM 
