ORLANDO, Fla. (April 11, 2006) ? An RBI-double by Kris Howell in the top of the eighth led the University of South Florida baseball team (15-19) to a 4-3 win over the UCF Golden Knights (20-16) at Jay Bergman Field on Tuesday, April 11. The win snaps an eight-game losing skid for the Bulls and marks the first road victory for USF this season (1-7 at opposing teams' fields).
Howell, who batted 1-for-4, recorded his third double of the season. Including Howell, seven different USF batters registered a hit in the game. Junior Nick Cardieri went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Center fielder Ty Taborelli scored a run and drove one in, batting 1-for-3 versus the Golden Knights. Matt McHargue hit 1-for-3, including a double and an RBI on the night.
Junior Nick Manganaro recorded his second win of the season, pitching in two innings of relief on the night. The left-hander allowed no runs on two hits while striking out a season-high five UCF batters. Junior Chase Lirette picked up his fifth save of the season, allowing no runs on one hit while striking out one in the bottom of the ninth. Right-hander Yuri Higgins, who made his fifth start of the season, allowed one run while giving up just one hit in four innings of action. Reliever Jim Cassidy pitched two innings, striking out four while giving up two runs (both unearned).
USF took an early 1-0 lead with an RBI double by McHargue in the top of the first. The Bulls extended their lead to 3-0, scoring two runs in the top of the second with RBI-singles by Cardieri and Taborelli.
UCF tied the game, scoring a run in the bottom of the third and two in the bottom of the sixth before Howell's double gave USF the final run needed for the victory.
USF will host the Louisville Cardinals in a three-game BIG EAST series this weekend. Game One will take place on Thursday, April 13. First pitch is 7 p.m.
USF 4, UCF 3 (Apr 11, 2006 at Orlando, Fla.)
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USF................. 120 000 010 - 4 8 3 (15-19)
UCF................. 001 002 000 - 3 5 1 (20-16)
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Pitchers: USF - HIGGINS; CASSIDY(5); MANGANARO(7); LIRETTE(9). UCF - K. Sweat; M. McClung(8);
D. Petracca(8).
Win-MANGANARO(2-2) Save-LIRETTE(5) Loss-K. Sweat(2-2) T-2:51 A-577
M. McClung faced 2 batters in the 8th.
