Central Michigan University Athletics
Knights Double-Up Chippewas, 10-5
3/1/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
ORLANDO, Fla. -- A grand slam by Tyler Stovall put Central Michigan within striking distance, but six errors helped give Central Florida the chances it needed to hold on for a 10-5 victory at Jay Bergman Field on Saturday.
Stovall finished 2-for-5 with four RBI, but fielding miscues led to five unearned Knight runs.
"We didn't play as well defensively as I would have liked," head coach Steve Jaksa said. "It's unfortunate because we don't usually have that problem but we did today. We have to be more consistant than that defensively."
CMu threatened in the third, putting two aboard on a Knight error and a single by Brandon Emmmett that moved Matt Faiman to third. Central sent Faiman on contact but he was thrown out at the dish on a ground ball by Billy Anderson. A wild pitch one batter later gave CMU another scoring threat, putting runners on second and third, but UCF starter Kyle Sweat worked out of his own mess by getting Stovall to roll a grounder to third to retire the side. A sacrifice fly following a double and a single put UCF up 1-0 in the bottom half of the frame.
Central would strand the bases loaded in the fourth and the fifth, and the Knights would score four times in their half of the fifth to take a 5-0 lead.
CMU would load the bases for the third straight inning in the sixth, and Stovall made sure the Chippewas cashed in. The senior drove a 1-0 pitch over the fence in left center for his first home run of the season, and Central's first grand slam of the year pulled them within one, 5-4.
The Knights would respond, however, in their half of the sixth. A single and an error put two aboard with one out, chasing starter Steve Teno from the game. Brendan Morrow replaced him on the mound, and was called for a pair of balks, allowing a run to score. A throwing error plated another run, stretching UCF's lead back to three, 7-4.
In the seventh, CMU manufactured a run in the seventh, as Jeff Helps reached on an infield single and stole second before scoring on a Tom Howard single through the left side.
UCF would add three insurance runs in the eighth to seal the victory.
Teno (1-1) took the loss for Central (1-5), giving up seven runs, five earned, on seven hits and a walk while fanning three over 5.1 innings. Cody Allen got the win in relief for UCF, going three innings while striking out five and walking none. He allowed one run on two hits.
"We've done some good things, we just need to keep battling," Jaksa said. "Bottom line is you have to be ready to play tomorrow."
The finale of the three-game set is scheduled for tomorrow at 1 p.m. WMMI-AM 830 will bring you all the action, and you can also listen in at cmuchippewas.com.
