The No. 19 UCF baseball team put up six two-out runs and received seven strong innings on the mound from senior Ray Hanson for a 6-2 victory over USF Tuesday night. The Knights (17-5) swept the season series from the Bulls (14-8) for the first time since 1995.<\/p>\n
After being held hitless through the first 4 2\/3 innings by USF starter Derrick Stultz, the UCF bats came alive as the Knights put up three runs in the fifth, one in the sixth and a pair in the seventh. The offense was led by Ronnie Richardson’s three-run double and D.J. Hicks’ 33rd and 34th RBI of 2012.<\/p>\n
“It was one of the better pitched games for us all season and Ray (Hanson) did a great job,” UCF head coach Terry Rooney said. “The name of the game tonight was timely hitting. Although there weren’t a lot of hits in the game, our offense came through with some clutch hits and a lot of hard-hit balls.”<\/p>\n
Combined with the clutch two-out hits, Hanson was the story of the night for UCF as he worked in and out of trouble early, but settled down and tossed a season-high seven innings while surrendering only four hits and one run.<\/p>\n
In the first inning, he induced a 6-3 double play and managed to get out of a first and third jam in the second with a fly-out to Alex Friedrich in right. In the third after hitting USF’s Alex Mendez, Hanson induced his second double play with a 4-6-3 to get out of the frame unscathed.<\/p>\n
The bats came to life in the top of the fifth with two outs on the board. UCF ripped three hits for three runs to take a 3-1 lead in the frame.<\/p>\n
Freshman James Vasquez sent a blooper into center field and Nick Carrillo followed with a shot to shallow right. Spencer Haynes, a native of nearby Valrico, took a 2-2 pitch to the back which set up Richardson with the bases loaded. He blasted the first pitch he saw to left field just inches from being a grand slam for a three-run double.<\/p>\n
In the top of the sixth, Friedrich was hit by a pitch and stole his seventh base of the season shortly after. Stultz then sent a wild ball past the catcher, which allowed the speedy Friedrich to score all the way from second base.<\/p>\n
With the bases juiced in the seventh, D.J. Hicks came through with more clutch two-out hitting as he sent a shallow ball to left to plate Vasquez and Richardson, increasing the Knights’ lead to 6-1.<\/p>\n
Junior Jimmy Reed relieved Hanson in the eighth and was able to get out of a bases-loaded no-out jam by only surrendering a run on a sacrifice fly. He worked a perfect ninth inning with a pair of strikeouts to finish off the contest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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