COLLEGE BASEBALL
2012 Game No. 57
Conference USA Championship Tournament
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Central Florida has
no mercy on Pirates
From staff and electronic reports
View the Mobile Alpha version of this report.
Central Florida chased East Carolina starter Jharel
Cotton after 1 2/3 innings and generally outplayed the Pirates from the
beginning to the abbreviated end for an easy 11-1 victory Friday afternoon
in the
Conference USA Championship tournament at Trustmark Park in Pearl, MS.
A junior righthander, Cotton (8-2) gave up four
runs on six hits and a walk before giving way to junior lefthander Tyler
Joyner, who fared little better in his three-innings of work.
ECU scored its lone run in the second on singles by
senior catcher Zach Wright, sophomore first baseman Chase McDonald and
junior outfielder Bryan Bass. But UCF got to Joyner for two runs in the 3rd
and three more in the 4th to extend its lead to 9-1 and put the game
essentially out of reach.
The Knights put on a finishing flourish with two
outs in the 8th, bringing freshman righthander Dylan Dickens' two-inning
relief stint to an end by pushing across two runs and establishing a 10-run
lead.
Junior leftie Jake Harris came in from the bullpen
and got the final out of the frame on a strikeout after giving up a walk and
a double.
When the Pirates failed to score in their half of
the inning, the game was declared over in accordance with C-USA's 10-run
rule, otherwise known as the "mercy rule."
UCF banged out 14 hits with Chris Taladay producing
the biggest highlights. The junior catcher went 3-for-5 — including a homer
and a triple — and recorded two runs scored and five runs batted in.
Sophomore designated hitter Drew Reynolds had three
of ECU's eight hits. Ben
Lively (9-2) put in a solid start for the Knights, surrendering
one run on six hits and three walks. The sophomore righthander
was relieved after six innings by junior southpaw Chris Matulis,
who pitched two innings of shutout ball.
The tournament is being conducted under a two-pod
format. The pod one teams are Rice, Southern Miss, Memphis and Houston. UCF,
Tulane, East Carolina and UAB are in pod two.
Although a slate of intra-pod games is still to be
played, Memphis and UAB have already clinched the top spots in the
respective pods and will meet on Sunday (2 p.m., CBS Sports Network) for the
championship and the league's automatic NCAA Tournament bid.
In the meantime, pod play wraps up on Saturday with
Tulane facing UCF at 12 p.m., ECU taking on UAB at 4 p.m. and Southern Miss
going against Rice at 8 p.m.
BOX SCORE #57
East Carolina x, Central
Florida x
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ECU SID GAME STORY
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UCF SID GAME STORY
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C-USA TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE & SCOREBOARD
Date: Friday, May 25, 2012
Event: Conference USA Championship Tournament
Venue: Trustmark Park, Pearl, MS
Attendance: 1,868
Records: ECU 34-22-1; UCF 42-15.
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