Pitt Falls Short Against No. 20 UCF, 8-2

Tuesday, March 11

Orlando, FL

6:30 PM

Pitt

UCF

Pitt Falls Short Against No. 20 UCF, 8-2

3/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

March 12, 2008

Box Score

PITTSBURGH--The Pitt baseball team began it's five game stint in Florida tonight with a contest against No. 20 UCF at Jay Bergman field in Orlando. The Panthers out hit the Knights by a count of 14-13, but were unable to produce enough runs to stay with UCF and fell for the fourth straight game, 8-2.

The night began with a bang as Danny Lopez (SO/Queens, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) blasted a leadoff home run to left field, giving Pitt an early 1-0 advantage. Lopez finished the night 3-5 from the plate and also stole two bases, giving him a total of five this season.

UCF answered Lopez's one-run bomb by scoring six runs over the next three innings, while holding Pitt scoreless. Each of the six UCF runs came off starting pitcher Hugh Henry (FR/Mt. Vernon, N.Y./Mt.Vernon). The freshman hurler's debut was over after those three innings; he finished with two strikeouts and suffered the loss for the Panthers.

Pitt busted out the lumber again in the top of the fourth when catcher Nick Mullins (SR/Brick, N.J./Brookdale Community College) led off the inning by unloading on a Mitch Houk offering, sending it over the wall in left field. The long ball marked Mullins' first of the season and gave him 12 hits on the year. He leads the team with a batting average of .375 and is now one of five Panthers to have gone yard this season.

Center fielder Jordan Herr (RS SO Lancaster, Pa./Delaware) followed Mullins' performance with a single to the left side of the infield, one of his two base hits on the evening. He finished the night 2-3 from the plate.

UCF responded again in the bottom of the fourth with a single run and added another in the fifth, while holding Pitt at bay for the remainder of the contest and setting the game's final score.

The Knights are now 12-1 overall and undefeated at home. Houk picked up the victory for UCF, his first of the season.

Pitt (3-7) will now set its sights on the Papa John's Challenge in West Palm Beach, Fla. The Panthers will take on Penn at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 13 for the first of four scheduled games. Pitt is also slated to matchup with Bethune-Cookman, New Jersey Tech and Cornell during the rest of its stay in Florida.