UCF ends Troy State’s season at tourney, 12-4
Published 12:00 am Friday, May 24, 2002
DELAND, Fla. – Top-seeded UCF scored 10 runs over the final three innings to run away with a 12-4 victory over fourth-seeded Troy State in the second round of the 2002 Atlantic Sun Conference Baseball Championship at Melching Field Thursday.
The loss ends Troy State’s season at 28-30, while UCF improves to 38-20 and advances in the winner’s bracket with a 2-0 record.
With the game tied 2-2 after six innings, UCF plated four runs on four hits in the top of the seventh. David Mann and Mike Myers opened the inning with back-to-back singles before moving one base on Dee Brown’s sacrifice bunt. Clay Timpner followed with a bases-clearing single up the middle for the eventual game-winning hit. Timpner and Ty Hanson completed the scoring as they came around to score on Adam Miller’s single two batters later. Hanson went 4-for-5 with two runs scored and a pair of RBIs.
Troy State appeared ready to mount a comeback but managed only one run on three hits in the bottom of the seventh. Coby Smith led off with a single up the middle and Lance Newman followed with a single to right field that gave the Trojans runners on first and second with no outs. But UCF inserted reliever Von David Stertzbach who shut the door and ended the threat. After Wade Miller’s single scored Smith, Drew Miller and Brian Lipman both struck out swinging. Chad Howard ended the inning with a fielder’s choice ground out to third to leave the score, 6-3.
UCF added a run in the eighth and five in the ninth as they won their 10th consecutive over Troy State.
Wade Miller went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a walk. Miller’s solo home run over the right field fence to open the fourth was his 10th of the season. He also finished the year with a team-high .393 batting average, the ninth-highest single-season total in school history.
Smith, Newman and Casey O’Quinn each finished with two hits apiece.
Trojan starter Eric Wikstrom (5-4) suffered the loss after allowing six runs on 11 hits in 6.1 innings of work. UCF’s Bo Hall (9-0) went six-plus innings and got the win to remain perfect on the season.