Feb. 28, 2010

Final Stats

Freshman Chris Taladay pounded out three doubles, classmate Ronnie Richardson drove in four and sophomore Beau Taylor belted a key two-run homer in the sixth as UCF earned the sweep of Siena with a 10-8 win Sunday. Right fielder Kyle Hudson went 4-for-5 with three runs scored and two RBI for the Saints.

The Knights got on the board in the opening inning Shane Brown's RBI double. UCF added three runs in the second to take a 4-0 lead, in a rally highlighted by Taladay's bloop double.

Although UCF starting pitcher Nick Cicio sailed through the first three innings, he struggled in the fourth, walking the bases loaded to start it up. Hudon's double drove home two runs and Andrew Sawyer drove home a run with a fielder's choice groundout. Hudson scored the tying run on a fielding error.

Each team traded runs before the Knights took a 7-5 lead with two runs in the fifth.

Siena would not go away, adding one in the sixth to cut its deficit in half when Hudson doubled to lead off the inning and scored on Sawyer's single. However Taylor launched a two-run homer into right-field, bringing the UCF advantage to 9-6 entering the seventh.

One more unearned run for the Saints kept them close, but after loading the bases following Anthony Giansanti's RBI single in the eighth, Siena could not get the big hit.

The Knights pitching staff would have to do it again in the ninth, as they stranded runners at second and third with two down by getting Giansanti to fly out to center. Giansanti, Mike Fish and Dan Paolini each had two hits for Siena.

The Saints return to action March 5 when they begin a four-game series at South Alabama. Siena concludes its Florida trip with a 1-7 record, but the Saints battled in nearly every game and have plenty of positives to point to moving forward.