Upcoming Event: Baseball at FDU on February 21, 2026 at 11:00 AM
11:00 AM
Baseball
at FDU
Friday, March 4
Orlando, Fla.
6:30 PM
Dartmouth College
0-1
2
at
9
UCF
8-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Dartmouth
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
2
7
1
UCF
0
0
2
1
0
0
0
6
X
9
17
0
Big Green Open 2011 Campaign with Loss at UCF
3/4/2011 11:02:00 PM | Baseball
ORLANDO, Fla. — Beau Taylor capped a six-run eighth inning with a grand slam to help host UCF fend off Dartmouth on Friday evening in the Big Green's season opener, 9-2. The Knights (8-1) banged out 17 hits in the game in picking up the victory, while junior Joe Sclafani provided two of the seven Dartmouth (0-1) hits on the evening.
Danny Winkler (2-0) earned the win on the mound for UCF, tossing six innings of two-run ball while allowing six hits and no walks with nine strikeouts. The final three frames were nailed down by Nick Cicio, who surrendered just a harmless single with a pair of punchouts for his second save on the young season.
For the Big Green, sophomore Kyle Hunter (0-1) fought through five tough innings, giving up three runs on nine hits and one free pass while fanning three in suffering his first collegiate loss.
Clinging to that 3-2 lead in the eighth, the Knights immediately got things going when Ryan Breen doubled into the right-field corner. An infield hit and a walk loaded the bases before lead-off hitter Travis Shreve singled home a run and Ronnie Richardson followed with a sacrifice fly. Darnell Sweeney coaxed a walk out of freshman right-hander Louis Concato before Taylor sent a 1-2 offering over the fence in right for his second four-bagger of the year to unload the bases and give UCF a seven-run cushion.
Neither team could dent the scoreboard in the first two innings before the Knights touched Hunter for a pair of runs in the third. Chris Taladay, who had four singles in four trips to the plate, knocked a pitch back through the box for a base hit to start the inning. A force out and a grounder to first put a man on second with two gone before Richardson hit a ball down the line that Big Green freshman third baseman Jeff Keller backhanded. His throw was late and off the mark, however, which allowed the run to score. Richardson promptly stole second, then scampered home as well on a Sweeney single to left.
Dartmouth answered in the top half of the fourth thanks to a wild pitch. Sophomore catcher Chris O'Dowd was hit by a pitch, then with two gone, sophomore Ennis Coble singled to left. O'Dowd scooted around to third, and Coble took second on the throw trying to nab O'Dowd. Winkler then uncorked a wild pitch sending O'Dowd across the plate for the first Big Green run of the season. Another hit batter and a stolen base put two runners in scoring position before Winkler settled down and got the third out on strikes.
In the UCF half of the fourth, Jonathan Griffin smacked a lead-off double, and was still on second two outs later. Hunter induced Taladay to hit a grounder to first, but was late covering the bag putting runners on the corners. The mental lapse proved costly when Derek Luciano stroked an RBI single to right to give the Knights a 3-1 lead.
Again the Green responded right back. Keller hitting a seeing-eye grounder up the middle for his first collegiate hit and advanced to second on a one-out grounder to second. O'Dowd came through with the two-out knock to right, allowing Keller to score and make it a one-run game again. Winkler and Cicio combined to retire the next 12 Dartmouth hitters before junior Jake Carlson singled with two outs in the ninth.
The two teams rescheduled the remainder of the series to avoid some expected inclement weather. Instead of single games the next two days, they will play a doubleheader tomorrow, March 5, beginning at 2 p.m.
Danny Winkler (2-0) earned the win on the mound for UCF, tossing six innings of two-run ball while allowing six hits and no walks with nine strikeouts. The final three frames were nailed down by Nick Cicio, who surrendered just a harmless single with a pair of punchouts for his second save on the young season.
For the Big Green, sophomore Kyle Hunter (0-1) fought through five tough innings, giving up three runs on nine hits and one free pass while fanning three in suffering his first collegiate loss.
Clinging to that 3-2 lead in the eighth, the Knights immediately got things going when Ryan Breen doubled into the right-field corner. An infield hit and a walk loaded the bases before lead-off hitter Travis Shreve singled home a run and Ronnie Richardson followed with a sacrifice fly. Darnell Sweeney coaxed a walk out of freshman right-hander Louis Concato before Taylor sent a 1-2 offering over the fence in right for his second four-bagger of the year to unload the bases and give UCF a seven-run cushion.
Neither team could dent the scoreboard in the first two innings before the Knights touched Hunter for a pair of runs in the third. Chris Taladay, who had four singles in four trips to the plate, knocked a pitch back through the box for a base hit to start the inning. A force out and a grounder to first put a man on second with two gone before Richardson hit a ball down the line that Big Green freshman third baseman Jeff Keller backhanded. His throw was late and off the mark, however, which allowed the run to score. Richardson promptly stole second, then scampered home as well on a Sweeney single to left.
Dartmouth answered in the top half of the fourth thanks to a wild pitch. Sophomore catcher Chris O'Dowd was hit by a pitch, then with two gone, sophomore Ennis Coble singled to left. O'Dowd scooted around to third, and Coble took second on the throw trying to nab O'Dowd. Winkler then uncorked a wild pitch sending O'Dowd across the plate for the first Big Green run of the season. Another hit batter and a stolen base put two runners in scoring position before Winkler settled down and got the third out on strikes.
In the UCF half of the fourth, Jonathan Griffin smacked a lead-off double, and was still on second two outs later. Hunter induced Taladay to hit a grounder to first, but was late covering the bag putting runners on the corners. The mental lapse proved costly when Derek Luciano stroked an RBI single to right to give the Knights a 3-1 lead.
Again the Green responded right back. Keller hitting a seeing-eye grounder up the middle for his first collegiate hit and advanced to second on a one-out grounder to second. O'Dowd came through with the two-out knock to right, allowing Keller to score and make it a one-run game again. Winkler and Cicio combined to retire the next 12 Dartmouth hitters before junior Jake Carlson singled with two outs in the ninth.
The two teams rescheduled the remainder of the series to avoid some expected inclement weather. Instead of single games the next two days, they will play a doubleheader tomorrow, March 5, beginning at 2 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Danny Winkler (2-0)
L: Hunter, Kyle (0-1)
S: Nick Cicio (2)
Batting:
RBI: O'Dowd, Chris 1
Base Running:
RUNS: O'Dowd, Chris 1 ; Keller, Jeff 1
SB: Carlson, Jake 1
HBP: O'Dowd, Chris 1 ; Coble, Ennis 1 ; Carlson, Jake 1
PO: Coble, Ennis 1
Batting:
2B: Ronnie Richardson 1 ; Jonathan Griffin 1 ; Ryan Breen 1
HR: Beau Taylor 1
RBI: Travis Shreve 1 ; Ronnie Richardson 1 ; Darnell Sweeney 1 ; Beau Taylor 4 ; Derek Luciano 1
SF: Ronnie Richardson 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Travis Shreve 1 ; Ronnie Richardson 1 ; Darnell Sweeney 1 ; Beau Taylor 1 ; Jonathan Griffin 1 ; Ryan Breen 1 ; Alex Friedrich 1 ; Derek Luciano 2
SB: Ronnie Richardson 1 ; Darnell Sweeney 2 ; Chris Taladay 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ BaseballIF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
IF/OF
/ BaseballC
/ BaseballIF
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