TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) – In a span of three-consecutive pitches in the seventh inning, No. 2 UCF scored five runs and eventually plated 13 runs in the final three innings to defeat No. 4 Bethune-Cookman, 16-5, in the NCAA Tallahassee Regional Saturday. It was the most runs scored in a game by the Knights (39-22) in their NCAA Tournament history.

“I’m very proud of the effort of our guys,” said head coach Terry Rooney. “We faced an outstanding Bethune-Cookman club, a team that we played (twice) during the year and their starting pitcher did a tremendous job. But our guys continued to battle throughout the day. I thought Danny Winkler pitched fantastic. He was incredible.”

A day after combining to go 1-for-15 vs. Alabama, Beau Taylor, D.J. Hicks, Jonathan Griffin and Derek Luciano all tore apart Wildcat (36-25) pitching. The quartet went 13-for-21 with 11 RBI, 11 runs and five extra-base hits. Hicks and Griffin each collected four hits, with Griffin driving in five to tie a UCF record for most RBI in a NCAA Tournament game.

Griffin crushed his 19th home run of the season as well, putting him in sole possession of second on the UCF single-season chart. He trails only Chris Duffy, who belted 21 four-baggers last year. The senior also has 32-career homers in just two seasons as a Knight to place him in a tie for sixth in UCF history.

Winkler was on his way to possibly his best outing of the season, pitching 5.2 shutout innings with just two hits against and six strikeouts. Yet two errors on a single play with nobody on base and two outs in the sixth inning led to four unearned runs to help the Wildcats eliminate a 3-0 deficit, and Winkler’s day was over.

“I just stuck to my game plan like I’ve been doing the last couple of weeks,” said Winkler. “I was getting ahead early, but I wasn’t happy with (my slider). So I was trying to command my fastball. And with their starter going like he was, that kept me in it so I kept pounding the zone.”

The Wildcats decided to start righty Rayan Gonzalez on the mound vs. the Knights. And the junior surrendered three-straight one-out singles in the top of the first to Taylor, Hicks and Griffin with Griffin driving in Taylor on a chopper over the head of third baseman Emmanuel Castro.

Given an early 1-0 lead, Winkler proceeded to limit Bethune-Cookman to just one hit in the first three innings, striking out five. That was highlighted by the right-hander sitting down the side on strikes in the third. Winkler then stranded a pair of runners with one out in the fourth.

UCF was unable to build its advantage on the scoreboard due to Gonzalez mowing down the Knights. They did have a two-out opportunity after Darnell Sweeney singled to center and Ronnie Richardson drew a walk, however the B-CU right-hander picked up his eighth strikeout of the game to return to the dugout.

Although Gonzalez motored through to get to the sixth inning, his pitch count was well into triple figures after UCF finally got the big hit it had been searching for all day long. As Griffin stood in the on-deck circle, he witnessed Hicks drive a 3-2 pitch into right for a leadoff single. The first baseman strode to the plate and quickly fell behind 0-2. And for some reason he did not like his mugshot on the left-field scoreboard, so he attempted to alter it by demolishing a 1-2 offering that came within a few feet of his face for a two-run homer.

Now jogging out to the hill with a 3-0 lead in the sixth, Winkler, who had thrown just 61 pitches, continued to cruise, getting the first two outs and inducing Peter O’Brien to send a lazy fly ball to left-center. That was when the state of the game changed, as there was miscommunication in the UCF outfield. Two errors on the play led to a hit by pitch and two walks to bring in the Wildcats’ first run.

Winkler tried to get that crucial third out, but Brashad Johnson delivered a two-run, two-out, two-strike single into left to tie it up at 3-3. Nick Cicio entered earlier than expected from the pen, and DJ Leonard sent his second pitch to left for a RBI single.

All of a sudden down 4-3, the UCF bats were not concerned by their newly-found one-run hole. A pair of two-strike singles by Sweeney and Richardson greeted reliever Chris Anselmo in the seventh, and although Taylor failed to get a sac bunt down, he ripped a 1-2 pitch off the high fence in right for a long single to load the bases.

Similar to Bethune-Cookman taking advantage of its scoring chance in the previous inning, the Knights were not going to let this one slip away either.

Freshman Bryan Rivera was called in from the B-CU bullpen and the southpaw threw only three pitches in his appearances. All of them resulted in RBI hits, as Hicks punched a single between first and second, Griffin dropped a two-run double into left and Luciano lined a two-run single up the middle. That was it for Rivera, who gave way to Gabriel Hernandez, and the Knights tacked on three more runs highlighted by RBI from Travis Shreve and Sweeney.

With the eight-run inning complete, UCF added a four more in the eighth to stretch the lead to 15-5. Kick-started by a double out of Taylor, Hicks drove in the catcher on a single, Griffin walked on five pitches and Luciano socked a two-run double into the right-field corner. And with the sun beating down onto Dick Howser Stadium, lightning was detected which delayed play for 3:20. When play ultimately resumed, Luciano eventually scored UCF’s 15th run on a wild pitch. To close out the offense, Kevin Vasquez drew a RBI walk with two outs in the ninth, and Bryan Brown tossed the final 2.0 innings to send UCF back to the hotel in a jolly mood.

UCF head coach Terry Rooney said after the game “I thought our guys battled all the way through. Certainly any coach will tell you all you want when you get to that last inning is to get that tying or winning run to the plate and we did. That has kind of been the hallmark of our team the entire year, just battling all the way to the very end and I was very proud of our guy’s effort out there.”

UCF did not get a leadoff batter on base for the entire game but Ronnie Richardson was 2 for 5 at bat with one solo home run and one RBI. Darnell Sweeney was 2 for 3 and ran one in along with Erik Hempe.

This game also ended Beau Taylor’s 15 game hitting streak.

With this loss, UCF is now in the losing bracket and will face the loser of the Bethune Cookman vs Florida State match on Saturday.

If UCF plays FSU on Saturday, the game will be televised on SUN Sports and a live video feed will be on NCAA.com. If they play Cookman the game will not be televised or online.

Scoring Recap:

Alabama started off in the 2nd with a double from Josh Rosecrans then he scored from a ground out to 1st base by Miller. Rosecrans also scored in the top of the 4th from a hit by Sanders.

In the bottom of the 4th, Travis Shreve of UCF slid in to first base with Ryan Breen on 2nd and Erik Hempe on 3rd setting up Sweeney at bat. With 3 balls and 1 strike Alabama pitcher Nathan Kilcrease walked Sweeney giving UCF their first run with Hempe walking in catching up to Bama 2-1.

Jared Reaves of the Tide scored a run after hitting a double with help from Austen Smith’s single in to left field for Alabama leaving UCF behind by 2 again in the 5th. 3-2 Alabama.

The Tide score again with Brandt Hendricks running in from 2nd base after Taylor Dugas hit a double down the left line in the 6th taking Alabama up 4-1.

UCF pitcher Johnny Sedlock came in to replace Brian Adkins in the 7th inning and started strong striking out Alabama’s Jared Reaves but Austen Smith hit a home run in to right center field. UCF trailed 5-1.

Finishing off the 7th inning, Ronnie Richardson hit a solo home run deep in to right field giving UCF their 56th home run of the season bringing UCF closer to the Tides lead 5-2.

Griffin of UCF hit his 17th double in to right field then made it to third with a ground out by Luciano but Hempe popped one up making it an easy catch.

Sweeney scored in the bottom of the 9th after hitting a triple in to right field and Richardson hit a single but Alabama won 5-3.

After the announcement Ronnie Richardson said "We've worked so hard for this day. To know that we are only five wins away from Omaha means that this is just the beginning. Now we've got to go out and take care of business."(Kurt Rivers/KnightNews.com)

Despite UCF falling to Rice in the C-USA Tournament last week 4-2 they landed a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The last time UCF made it to the NCAA Tournament was back in 2004 when they beat Oklahoma State 7-3 in the first round but lost to Florida State in the second round 3-2.

Now it’s 2011 and UCF may get a chance to go against FSU again in Tallahassee if they can make it past Alabama this Friday.

Tallahassee Regional
1. Florida St.
2. UCF
3. Alamaba
4. Bethune Cookman
 
In game 1, UCF will face Alabama Friday at noon and Cookman will face Florida St. in game 2. The winner of each game will face each other on Saturday.
 
 
 
 
The game can be followed online here

The official NCAA bracket can be viewed here

This post will be updated if TV / Radio broadcasts are announced.

Watch this motivational interview with Coach Rooney after the win against Florida at home in Orlando.

Beau Taylor (13) of UCF slammed one out of Jay Bergman Field continuing his 12-game hitting streak. (Kurt Rivers/KnightNews.com)

The win gave UCF a 12-12 C-USA season record that placed them as the 4th seed in the C-USA tournament that starts today, Wednesday, in Pearl, Mississippi against No. 5 Memphis that are also 12-12 in C-USA. In their last meeting away at Memphis in April, UCF took two out of three games in the series despite Memphis ahead over all 11-8.

C-USA Tournament Schedule for UCF
Wednesday – vs. No. 5 Memphis – 10 a.m. ET
Thursday – vs. No. 8 UAB – 10 a.m. ET
Friday – vs. No. 1 Rice – 1:30 p.m. ET
Saturday – Championship Game – 8 p.m. ET

The games will be heard on radio station 740-AM and live stats on UCFAthletics.com. Thursday’s game against UAB will be televised on Bright House Sports Network and the championship game on Sunday will be on CBS Sports Network.

Darnell Sweeney's 2-run double in the ninth helped UCF top No. 4 Florida, 4-3. (Kurt Rivers)

It came just in time on Tuesday.

Darnell Sweeny’s  2-run double in the top of the ninth helped the Knights defeat No. 4 Florida 4-3 in Gainesville to improve to 20-9 on the season. It’s the Knights fourt win of the season over a ranked opponent, having beaten Rice twice and Stetson.

Chase Bradford started the game and allowed two runs through the first two innings, but the UCF bullpen held until the Gators broke a 2-2 tie in the eighth with an RBI single by Jeff Moyer. As for the Knights, Sweeny’s game-winning double was set up by a Beau Taylor walk and a Ryan Breen single.

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Ronnie Richardson came in to close out the game in the ninth and set the Gators down in order to secure the win for the Knights. UCF will return home over the weekend when they host C-USA foe Tulane.

Ronnie Richardson and the Knights are ranked No. 23 in the nation, their first ranking since 2008. (Kurt Rivers | Knightnews.com)

The UCF baseball team climbed into the nation’s elite Monday, nabbing the No. 23 spot in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper top 25 rankings.

The Knights boast a record of 18-6 and took two-of-three games against Conference USA rival Rice this past weekend. They are ranked in the top 25 for the first time since reaching as high as No. 16 in 2008.

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The baseball team joins men’s basketball (19/18), football (21/20), men’s soccer (18), women’s soccer (18) and indoor track (8) as the athletic programs to be ranked in the top 25 rankings this year.

This year, UCF has three wins over ranked teams, including beating No. 23 Rice twice and No. 29 Alabama. Based on the polls just released, UCF will play 13 opponents that are currently ranked in the top 25, including two games against Stetson this week and a home weekend series against Southern Miss.

Ronnie Richardson reached base four times against Rice on Sunday in a 5-4 UCF victory. (Kurt Rivers | Knightnews.com)

Behind Joe Rodgers perfect ninth inning and four hits from Jonathan Griffin, the Knights (18-6 overall, 2-1 in C-USA) took down Rice 5-4 on Sunday and, with a series-opening 7-2 win on Friday, record their first-ever series victory over Rice in program history. It was also the first time UCF won it’s opening C-USA series of a season since 2006, when they took two of three against Marshall to open conference play.

“That was a tremendous team effort for the entire weekend,” head coach Terry Rooney said in a release. “We call every Sunday ‘Championship Sunday.’ Regardless of the first two days, Sunday is always the most important game of the series. For today’s game, all you have to do is look at the back-and-forth of the score, and then to see us hold on late on the road certainly speaks volumes about the confidence and presence of our team.”

Brian Adkins pitched three innings of scoreless ball in relief, allowing no runs and striking out one batter. He picked up his fourth win of the season. Adkins helped the Knights out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth inning, limiting the Rice lead and allowing the Knights to fight back.

“Basically I was just trying to fill up the zone and once again the defense played great behind me,” Adkins said in a release. “My mindset was a little bit different coming out of the pen. But in each individual inning I was trying to close out the game. Each inning was its own entity for me, so I was just trying to go hitter by hitter.”

In addition to Griffin’s three hits, Ronnie Richardson reached base four times, including two hits, and D.J. Hicks and Erik Hempe also racked up two hits a piece.

Rodgers came into the game in relief in the seventh and helped preserve the UCF lead, including striking out the meat of the lineup in the bottom of the ninth to secure the victory.

“I was mentally prepared in the bullpen when I saw how well Brian pitched,” Rogers said in a release. “It was cool how (facing possible No. 1 MLB pick Anthony Rendon in the ninth) was drawn up. I wanted to go after Rendon because he is potentially a high-draft pick, so I threw him a two-seamer and I guess it just tailed on him and he hit it to Darnell Sweeney at short. He made a great play to end it. And Beau Taylor did an excellent job behind the plate for me.”

The Knights will face another tough test Tuesday, as they take on 20-5 Stetson at home.

D.J. Hicks went 3-for-4 at the plate and pitched in relief in a 7-2 win over No. 23 Rice. (Kurt Rivers | Knightnews.com)

In his first Friday-night start of the season, the righty Lively finished with 5.2 innings of work, allowing just two runs on four hits.

“Ben was the epitome of our team,” head coach Terry Rooney said in a release. “He really battled tonight but obviously needs to reduce his walks to continue to be successful. The positive of it was that he’s such a competitor that he worked out of jams, but the margin of error will keep decreasing.”

The win was the second of the season for the Knights (17-5 overall, 1-0 in C-USA) over a ranked team — they defeated No. 29 Alabama 12-7 on Feb 27 — and gave them their first win in conference in 2011.

“It was a great win. We battled hard all night,” Rooney said. “At the end of the Miami game Tuesday I told our guys that the majority of our games from now on will be close, hard-fought games. From this point on everyone we play in C-USA and in non-conference play are good teams. So we’ve got to be better from innings one to nine, and tonight we were.”

Hicks double in the top of the eighth helped extend the UCF lead to 4-2 as he reached base four times in the game. He also pitched in relief following Lively and helped secure the victory.

“Whenever you can get a conference win on a Friday night is huge. It sets the tone for the entire weekend,” Hicks said in a release. “I was fortune enough to get a couple hits and put us in position to win. Tonight I was little more locked in since it was the conference opener with a good crowd.”

The big blemish on the resume for Lively came in the bottom of the fourth. He issues three walks, loading the bases, and then threw a wild pitch which allowed a runner to score. He then surrendered another run, all without giving up a hit, as the Owls took a 2-0 lead into the fifth.

It didn’t take long for a UCF rally as Hicks and Beau Taylor singled to reach base and an error by pitcher Anthony Rendon allowed a run to score. Chris Taladay’s sac fly eventually brought another round to score, tying the game at 2-2. Ronnie Richardson then lined an RBI single to center, giving the away team its first lead of the night.

The Knights kept the Owls down the rest of the game and added four more runs in the ninth, paving way for Joe Rogers to come in and close out the game en route to earning his fourth save of the season.

Game Notes (provided by UCF Athletics):

UCF – 17-5 Overall, 1-0 C-USA

No. 23 Rice – 15-10 Overall, 0-1 C-USA

-Ben Lively’s eight walks in the game set a UCF record by an individual pitcher.

-With a 5-0 record, Lively is the first Knight since Ray Rodriguez and Darren Newlin (2005) to start a season 5-0.

-The three runs in the ninth were the most UCF had scored in that inning all season.

-Relief pitchers D.J. Hicks, Nick Cicio and Joe Rogers combined to toss the final 3.1 innings, giving up no runs on three hits and striking out two.

-The win was the third all-time for UCF on Rice’s home field.

-UCF did not commit an error for the 13th time.

-Game time was 3:22, marking the longest game for UCF this year.

-UCF turned a season-high four double plays.

DJ Hicks did everything he could to help the UCF baseball team get a win against USF on Tuesday.

DJ Hicks homered twice on Tuesday, but it wasn't enough to lead UCF past rival USF. (Kurt Rivers/KnightNews.com)

At the plate that is.

Hicks went deep twice and drove in three runs, but the two-way player gave up four earned runs in the eighth inning — all with two outs — that helped USF escape with a come-from-behind victory over the Knights (13-3) in front of 1,711 fans at Jay Bergman Field.

“DJ had a great night offensively and he is going to do a great job for us on the mound,” UCF head coach Terry Rooney said. “Obviously, he didn’t have his best stuff for us tonight, but hey I will keep running DJ out there. The guy is an unbelievable competitor in everything that he does. He is a terrific two-way player. Hey, that’s just one game. DJ is going to have an awesome year for us there is no question about it.”

Ronnie Richardson doubled to lead off the home half of the seventh and eventually crossed home plate on a Beau Taylor RBI single, giving the Knights a 4-2 advantage.

That didn’t last long.

USF’s Sam Mende scored on a two-out single by Chad Taylor in the following half inning, cutting the UCF lead to just one. The Bulls followed that up with three more runs, including a run that scored on a run down between first and second, which proved to be the difference in the game, as they went up 6-4 after the top of the eighth.

Hicks launched his second homer of the game over the center-field wall in the bottom half of the inning, but the Knights wouldn’t get any closer as the Bulls pitched a scoreless ninth to secure the comeback.

Brian Adkins pitched well on Tuesday against South Florida. (Kurt Rivers/KnightNews.com)

Early in the game it looked as the Knights would cruise once again. Starter Brian Adkins continued to pitch out of jams in the opening innings and the offense provided some pop when Jonathan Griffin launched his fourth homer of the year over the left-field fence, helping the Knights claim a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third.

A couple of batters later, Hicks connected on a pitch and took it over the fence for a two-run homerun as the Knights extended their lead to 3-0.

Adkins continued his strong season on the mound, tossing 6 2/3 innings pitched while giving up just two runs and surrendering his first walk of the season.