Taylor is the first Knight to be selected in one of the first five rounds since 2005 when Mike Billek was tagged in the third round by the Chicago Cubs and current Minnesota Twins catcher Drew Butera heard his name called in the fifth round by the New York Mets.

麻豆原创 has now produced 14 picks in the top-five rounds of the MLB Draft, and 27 overall in the first 10 rounds since 1979 (the program’s first year was in 1973).

The Black and Gold boasts 74 draft picks in its history, and has had at least one player selected in the MLB Draft in each of the last four seasons. Since 1998, 麻豆原创 has seen one or more of its student-athletes taken by a Major League club every year except for 2007.

From the minute he stepped on campus for the 2009 season Taylor was destined to be 麻豆原创’s starting catcher for at least the next three campaigns. As a freshman, he made 39 starts, hit .335, drove in 23, scored 28 runs and had 15 doubles with four homers. Behind the plate, he threw out 26 runners on the basepaths to lead all Conference USA catchers.

Taylor went on to be named a Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American in 2009, becoming the first 麻豆原创 catcher to receive the honor.

A year later, he bumped his average up to .354 by racking up 16 doubles, two triples, seven home runs, 35 RBI and 45 runs. He had a .561 slugging percentage with a .429 on-base percentage, and finished the season with a 21-game hitting streak.

That hitting streak carried over to his junior year in 2011 where he extended it to 26 games to tie the school record. Taylor earned a spot on the Johnny Bench Award Watch List for the second-straight year, and proceeded to hit .325 with a personal-high 75 hits, 51 runs and 47 RBI. More impressively, the Rockledge High School graduate committed just one error all season to finish with a .998 fielding percentage.

For his career, Taylor is hitting .337 with 16 home runs, 42 doubles, 105 RBI and a .990 fielding percentage.

That tradition was a good regular season and spot in the NCAA Tournament. And as the team boarded its bus back home late Sunday afternoon, there were dejected players who yearned to play on and yet this year’s team might be remembered for establishing the program among the nation’s best once again.

Terry Rooney has never hid the fact his goal is Omaha and the College World Series, every year. And what once was a nice sign on a team clubhouse door or a plaque on a the table in his office, Rooney’s team now believes that goal is possible and has his returning players anxious to take the next step in 2012.

This past season saw many highlights that included the incredible season of Jonathan Griffin, who belted out 19 home runs. Griffin hit .343 and played spectacular defense. His power mate, D.J. Hicks, finished the year with 14 homers and led the team in batting at .351. Catcher Beau Taylor rebounded from a mid-season bump in the road to finish strong at .325 and become one of the team’s hottest hitters in the postseason.

The season saw two big wins over highly ranked Florida and Rice, a season sweep of Stetson and victories over FSU and other NCAA Tournament teams. 麻豆原创 returned to the national polls during the season and had an RPI in the top 25 and a strength of schedule in the top 30 for the final six weeks of the season.

The 2012 version of the Knights will have a new look. Seniors will move on and the amateur draft will impact several juniors and some key members of Rooney’s incoming recruiting class. But there is a sense around Conference USA and in college baseball that 麻豆原创 has returned to the stage it enjoyed during the 1990s, where it was a regular in the postseason tournament and a team opponents did not want to face.

This offseason will find 麻豆原创 beginning the first phase of its stadium expansion. The cosmetic work at the ballpark is another sign of 麻豆原创’s commitment to baseball and its path of growth. The plan to expand the stadium has been part of Rooney’s pitch to recruits and fans that 麻豆原创’s baseball program is a growing power. An expanded ballpark will allow Rooney to schedule more top-notch opponents and host an NCAA Regional.

While this year’s ride ended short of Omaha, the Knights have a lot to build on and 2012 should be a strong season and don’t be surprised to see 麻豆原创 a regular in the national polls and back in the NCAAs, where Rooney believes his team should always be.

Knights notes and more: Kudos to the regional organizers at FSU who hosted a great regional. Tallahassee has hosted many times before and crowds were strong and the atmosphere was great. It also highlights the advantage of hosting. There is no doubt an expanded stadium makes 麻豆原创 an ideal location as a future site…Football season inches closer and before you know camp will open. BYU, 麻豆原创’s opponent in the fourth game this season, has invited me to their national media day (which I cannot attend) in July in Provo, Utah. The event includes interviews with players and coaches and former BYU Coach LaVelle Edwards. The media day is scheduled for eight hours. That’s a lot of time for a media day…ESPN appears to be fully on board with using “麻豆原创” in all of its scores and mentions as was the case this weekend for the baseball regional…Final thought: Ever forget your room number at a hotel and walk up and down a hallway trying several rooms with your key? Yup, that was me this past weekend.

Marc Daniels’ From the Press Box runs several times per month on 麻豆原创Athletics.com. Listen to Marc during 麻豆原创 football, men’s basketball and baseball radio broadcasts on the 麻豆原创 Sports Network. Each weekday, Marc hosts The Beat of Sports on ESPN Radio 1080 in Orlando.

Trailing 4-3 after a somewhat troubling bottom of the sixth inning, 麻豆原创 got consecutive first-pitch RBI hits from D.J. Hicks, Jonathan Griffin and Derek Luciano to plate five runs that dramatically changed the tenor of the afternoon. That spree jump-started an eight-run seventh inning for the Knights and paved the way for 麻豆原创’s 16-5 rout of Bethune-Cookman in NCAA Regional play at Florida State’s Dick Howser Stadium.

麻豆原创, in a NCAA Regional for the first time since 2004, set a slew of school records during its late-game offensive onslaught. The eight-run inning and the 16 runs overall were highs for a NCAA Tournament game. For the game, 麻豆原创 had 20 hits as seven players collected multiple knocks.

“Our guys continued to battle throughout the day … and our offense responded when we needed it,” 麻豆原创 manager Terry Rooney said. “Our guys hung in there with tremendous confidence all the way through. I was very proud of the way we battled back and answered the way we needed to in that second half of the game.”

A day after 麻豆原创’s two-through-five hitters struggled through a 1-for-15 afternoon in a 5-3 loss to Alabama, Griffin (four hits, five RBI), Hicks (four hits, two RBI), Luciano (two hits, four RBI) and Beau Taylor (three hits) combined to go 13-for-21 with 11 RBI.

The production from the middle of the lineup allowed the second-seeded Knights (39-22) to live to play on Sunday at noon against the loser of the Florida State-Alabama game from Saturday night. The Knights routed Alabama 12-4 in late February, but they lost to the Tide in Friday’s first-round play. 麻豆原创 won one of three games against FSU three weeks ago in Tallahassee.

“We talked about it early in the cages – me, Beau, Griff and everybody – that we had to come through,” said Hicks, a sophomore. “I didn’t get a hit (Friday), so it was important for us to jump out today and help the team out the best that we could.”

Bethune-Cookman (36-25) was eliminated from the double-elimination tournament. The Wildcats, who lost 6-5 to Florida State on Friday in heartbreaking fashion, dropped to 1-24 all-time in NCAA Tournament play.

Saturday’s game was bizarre in several aspects, ranging from wacky errors, a 3-hour, 21-minute lightning delay without any precipitation for the first 2 1/2 hours and some wacky, wild swings in momentum. Including the weather delay, it took almost five hours to play the final three innings. The game took 3:25 to complete – four minutes longer than the rain delay.

Said Hicks of what his team did during the delay: “Nothing good. It’s tough because you are just trying to wait it out, but it gets to a point where you don’t know what to do. We just started playing games to get our bodies going again. It was nothing great, to be honest.”

麻豆原创 led 1-0 through five innings in what was shaping up as a pitching duel between 麻豆原创 starter Danny Winkler (six strikeouts, three hits allowed) and Bethune-Cookman’s Ryan Gonzalez (eight strikeouts).

Griffin, all 6-foot-7 of him, put a charge into the game when he hit a two-run home run halfway up the scoreboard beyond the 340-foot left-field fence. The 19th home run of the season for Griffin put 麻豆原创 up 3-0 and moved him to within two of Chris Duffy’s school record of 21 home runs set last season.

The game changed dramatically for 麻豆原创 late in the sixth inning. Winkler, who allowed just one ball out of the infield in the first three innings and struck out six through four innings, retired the first two batters of the sixth. He appeared set to get out of the inning when he got B-CU standout catcher Peter O’Brien to pop out to left center. But when Ronnie Richardson and Ryan Breen collided on the play, the ball squirted out and Breen’s throw to second sailed wide. A 麻豆原创 team that hadn’t had two errors in a game in more than a month committed two on one play.

From there, Winkler hit a batter and walked another to load the bases. He appeared to have Emmanuel Castro struck out on a picture-perfect 2-2 pitch, but it was ruled a ball. A walk and consecutive singles plated four-straight runs to shockingly put Bethune-Cookman up 4-3. That was especially surprising considering that 麻豆原创 head beaten Bethune-Cookman 13-0 and 8-1 during the regular season.

“I just didn’t pitch well down the stretch. I had a hit batter and an uncharacteristic walk with the bases loaded. That’s not me,” Winkler said. “I just think I was trying to too hard to make that perfect pitch and get the momentum back on our side because it was swaying toward their side.

“I think we have more confidence when we get down,” Winkler continued. “For some reason when we get down we just kind of wake up.”

麻豆原创 sophomore shortstop Darnell Sweeney opened the seventh with a single – the third straight inning that 麻豆原创 put the leadoff man on base following a stretch of 17 consecutive innings dating back to the Conference USA tournament where it had failed to do so.

The single by Sweeney – who has four hits in two NCAA games – started a stretch of six consecutive hits by the Knights. 麻豆原创 chased three pitchers with some efficient hitting. Reliever Bryan Rivera threw three pitches, all going for hits that resulted in five runs for the Knights.

Winkler, a junior from Effingham, Ill., had his good fastball and was dominant early in Saturday’s game. At one point, he retired 10 straight batters and struck out six of seven hitters. He needed just 61 pitches to get through the first five innings with 45 of them going for strikes.

Said Winkler: “I couldn’t have drawn this up any better. When coach Rooney was recruiting me he said, `You’re going to pitch in a regional,’ and what he said has come true. It was an awesome experience and hopefully we can keep going and get in the Super Regionals and Omaha.”

Winkler was in a position to potentially be the tough-luck loser after BCU scored the four unearned runs in the sixth. But 麻豆原创’s bats finally came alive and got him off the hook. A lineup featuring six .300 hitters produced 11 straight runs before the lightning delay. Now, the Knights hope to carry over that momentum to Sunday where their season will once again be on the line. They will need to win two games to get to a championship game on Monday – something that Rooney feels his team is quite capable of doing.

“We’re very confident in the position that we’re in. We’d like to be in the 2-0 game, but I like where we are because offensively we found our groove a little bit and our pitching depth,” Rooney said. “Today, was a mindset that we had to battle and do whatever it takes to get the hit when we needed it.

“Now, we have confidence. Our guys have it,” Rooney said. “And from a pitching standpoint, we’ve got depth and I feel good about where we are. We still have a lot of guys who have been starters for us who haven’t pitched yet. This is what you play for and I feel good about our chances.”

John Denton’s Knights Insider appears on 麻豆原创Athletics.com several times a week. E-mail John at jdenton@athletics.ucf.edu.

As he monitored his 麻豆原创 Knights preparing for the NCAA Regional Tournament earlier this week, usually hard-driving manager Terry Rooney paused briefly and allowed a bit of big-picture perspective to wash over him.

It’s been nearly three years since Rooney was hired as head coach of the Knights and his charge was not a simple one – rebuild 麻豆原创’s once-proud program back into one that competes on a national scale. There were certainly struggles along the way, but a tireless work ethic and an unbreakable spirit helped to put the Knights in a position where they are back in a NCAA Regional for the first time since 2004.

And while much of this week has been about preparing for Friday’s noon showdown against third-seeded Alabama at Dick Howser Stadium in Tallahassee, Rooney was able to savor the moment and express his gratitude to a group of players who clearly have the 麻豆原创 program on the rise.

“You sit back as a head coach and you have two emotions: I was really proud for our guys because we’ve worked extremely hard to get to this point; and then I’m also just extremely proud for the coaching staff that has worked for this,” Rooney said. “It’s obviously something that’s very exciting what we have accomplished, but we’re not done. I’m not going to take for granted what we have done in three years, and we’ve done what we were hired to do – to bring us back to the national spotlight. But the job isn’t done yet. The job is to keep advancing in the postseason and we have a very good chance to do that.”

麻豆原创 arrived in Tallahassee on Wednesday and will practice on Thursday in what should be quite familiar surroundings. Rooney purposely scheduled an early May series with Florida State in Tallahassee in hopes of preparing his Knights for what it would be like to play in a NCAA Regional.

Also, the Knights should be quite familiar with their competition and go in knowing that they can play with any of the other three teams in their pod. Second-seeded 麻豆原创 (38-21) opens against No. 3 Alabama (33-26), a team the Knights defeated 12-4 back on Feb. 27. The other side of the bracket features top-seeded FSU (42-17) and fourth-seeded Bethune-Cookman (36-23) – two other teams that the Knights are very familiar with. 麻豆原创 won one of three against FSU during their May 6-8 series and the Knights twice routed Bethune-Cookman during the regular season.

“I think it definitely gives us and advantage to have already seen all of the teams that we could play,” said 麻豆原创 sophomore left-hander Brian Adkins (6-4, 4.28 ERA), who is scheduled to start Friday against Alabama. “Being close to home too and having our friends and family at the game is a huge advantage also.”

For three years, Rooney has talked boldly about 麻豆原创 becoming a national powerhouse again. In an attempt to change the culture and get 麻豆原创 dreaming big once again, Rooney developed mantras such as “On the Road to Omaha” and “1,430,” as in the distance in miles between Orlando and the College Baseball World Series in Omaha, Neb.

That bold talk seemed, at times, like a pipe dream the previous two seasons as 麻豆原创 battled inconsistency and missed the postseason. But consecutive top-20 recruiting classes helped to bolster the talent base at 麻豆原创 and allowed the Knights to become a factor on the national stage.

Maybe even more so than the berth in the NCAA Tournament, 麻豆原创’s success against some of the best teams in the country is evidence that Rooney has a rising power in the works. 麻豆原创 swept nationally-ranked teams Florida and Stetson this season, beat three of the top-eight seeds in the NCAA tournament and claimed eight victories against nationally-ranked squads.

And now that the program is truly taking that first step toward potentially getting to Omaha and the College World Series, it’s a bit surreal for 麻豆原创’s players that all of the dreams and recruiting promises are coming true.

“We knew coming in here what we had to do to get this program back in the postseason and I think the hardest part for us might just be getting here,” junior third baseman Derek Luciano said. “But now we’re here in the NCAA tournament and we know what it’s going to take. We’re well-prepared for what’s ahead of us now.”

What’s directly ahead is the showdown with Alabama and talented right-handed pitcher Nathan Kilcrease, who was 7-4 this season with a 3.16 ERA. Through the years, 麻豆原创 has had plenty of success against Alabama, winning four straight against the Tide and going 6-4 all-time.

麻豆原创 pounded Alabama’s young pitching staff in late February, hammering out 18 hits and 12 of the extra-base variety. Sophomore shortstop Darnell Sweeney had four hits and three doubles, while D.J. Hicks and Travis Shreve each had three hits. And junior catcher Beau Taylor had a home run as the Knights had no problem with an Alabama team that was ranked No. 29 at the time.

“I remember them being a pretty young team and I’m sure they developed all season to get to the NCAAs. We’ll have a target on our backs in their eyes I’m sure,” Adkins said. “We’re going to play our game to try and get a win. Coach Rooney and I have talked about me sticking with my game plan, filling up the zone with strikes and letting my defense work. Hopefully, it works.”

Just about everything that Rooney and coaches Cliff Godwin, Jeff Palumbo and Brandon Romans have done to build the program over the last three years has worked. Having already made several major strides in the building progress, the hope is that 麻豆原创 can scale the next hurdle and put the program truly in a position to be “One the Road to Omaha.”

“I told the guys that we’ve proven that we’re one of the best teams in the country and we’ve proven that we can beat all of the teams in this regional,” Rooney said. “But just having confidence alone doesn’t ensure victory. We have to go out and play the game as well as we can. I think we’ve had a couple of really good days of practice and I think we’ll be ready to play.”

John Denton’s Knights Insider appears on 麻豆原创Athletics.com several times a week. E-mail John at jdenton@athletics.ucf.edu.

When head coach Terry Rooney took over the 麻豆原创 baseball program in the summer of 2008, his mission from the very beginning was to get the Knights back to the postseason. On Monday, that goal was reached as 麻豆原创 learned it will travel to Tallahassee this weekend for the NCAA Tournament, marking its first trip to the dance since 2004.

“This means a lot to us,” said sophomore center fielder Ronnie Richardson. “We’ve worked so hard for this day. To know that we are only five wins away from Omaha means that this is just the beginning. Now we’ve got to go out and take care of business.”

It is the 10th appearance for the Black and Gold in the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament. In their previous nine trips to the dance, the Knights won at least one game eight times. This year also marks the seventh time 麻豆原创 will travel to Tallahassee for Regional play.

The Knights open up NCAA Regionals as a No. 2 seed and will face No. 3 Alabama Friday at noon. Joining 麻豆原创 and the Crimson Tide in the Tallahassee Regional will be host and No. 1 seed Florida State and No. 4 Bethune-Cookman. If the Knights can advance, Super Regionals are set for June 10-13 at campus sites while the College World Series in Omaha begins June 18.

The bracket is shaped up where the winner of the Tallahassee Regional will square off against the victor of the College Station Regional (Texas A&M, Arizona, Seton Hall, Wright State) in a best-of-three series for the right to reach Omaha.

麻豆原创 played every team in its regional, going 1-2 at FSU in a weekend series May 6-8, 2-0 vs. Bethune-Cookman and 1-0 against Alabama. However the Seminoles are the only team the Knights have faced in the NCAA Tournament, going 2-6 against FSU in postseason play.

Meanwhile, 麻豆原创 played 10 teams this season that qualified for the 2011 NCAA Regionals, and went 12-10 against those programs. And among the eight national seeds, the Knights posted a 5-4 record this year (Florida, Florida State and Rice).

Ticket information for this weekend’s Regionals will be announced when it becomes available.

With a 38-21 overall record, 麻豆原创 already has its most victories since going 42-18 in 2005. It also produced a 12-12 Conference USA record to finish in fourth place in the standings, the Knights’ best showing since joining the league in 2006. They went 2-1 in the C-USA Championship with wins over Memphis and UAB before dropping a close 4-2 decision to top-seed Rice in the final day of pool play.

麻豆原创 went 8-8 this season against ranked teams and had a 10-11 record vs. teams ranked in the top 50 of the RPI. Among those victories, it defeated Rice (twice), Florida (twice), Stetson (twice), Florida State and Alabama.

Rooney currently owns a 93-78 record in three seasons as the skipper of the Knights. Joined by associate head coach Cliff Godwin and assistant coach Jeff Palumbo since 2008, they have recruited two classes that were ranked in the top-20 in the country. Last year 麻豆原创 was the only team in the nation that had five freshmen make at least 35 starts.

And those freshmen quickly matured, blending with a veteran group in 2011 to have 麻豆原创’s most successful season in the C-USA era. Redshirt sophomore D.J. Hicks leads the Knights with a .343 average, driving in a C-USA-high 62 runs and hitting 13 homers. He was named a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, which is awarded to the best player in the country.

Hicks and first baseman Jonathan Griffin have formed one of the top 1-2 power combinations in the NCAA. Griffin, an All-C-USA First Team selection, has pounded out 18 home runs which rank in a tie for second on the 麻豆原创 single-season chart.

In all, 麻豆原创 is hitting .305 as a team, and carries a .979 fielding percentage (school record is .973). Eight different pitchers have three wins or more, and closer Joe Rogers has earned nine saves this year.

Several Orlando-area natives are leading the way as well. Along with Hicks (Altamonte Springs) and Rogers (Winter Haven), Beau Taylor (Rockledge) has a 15-game hitting streak entering the NCAA Tournament and Brian Adkins (Orlando) has been 麻豆原创’s No. 1 starting pitcher in 2011.

Griffin hit a towering, three-run blast in the eighth inning on Thursday to lift the surging Knights past UAB 6-4 in day two of pool play of the Conference USA tournament in Pearl, Miss.

Griffin led C-USA in home runs during the regular season with 16, and his 18th (second in two days) was never in question when it left the bat. The shot beyond center field traveled in excess of 400 feet and proved to be just the blast that the Knights (38-20) needed for the come-from-behind victory.

“This is obviously the biggest game that we’ve played this year, so that’s probably the biggest home run that I’ve hit in my life,” said Griffin, a senior from Bradenton.

麻豆原创 has now beaten Memphis and UAB in pool play and can secure a berth into Saturday’s C-USA championship game by defeating traditional powerhouse Rice on Friday, or simply have Rice lose to Memphis Thursday. But they should head into Friday’s game brimming with plenty of confidence.

麻豆原创 took two of three from Rice earlier in the season, and the Knights have won nine of their last 10 games. With a Top-20 RPI, they also have put themselves in position to nab a bid in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2004.

“We’re playing with a lot of confidence and our guys want to do everything that they can now to try and win a championship,” said 麻豆原创 manager Terry Rooney, whose Knights have won eight games this season against nationally-ranked teams. “We’ve proven that we’re one of the best teams in the country and now it’s all about going out and playing to win a championship.”

麻豆原创’s left-handed bullpen duo of Nick Cicio and Joe Rogers made sure that Griffin’s home run stood up on Thursday. Cicio was again masterful in relief, throwing one-hit ball over three innings in relief of starter Danny Winkler. Rogers then picked up his ninth save of the season, striking out the final two batters of the game on inside fastballs.

“Winkler did a tremendous job battling all day and then our three lefties out of the bullpen – (Johnny) Sedlock, Cicio and Rogers – came through again. (On Wednesday) it was Sedlock and (on Thursday) it was Cicio and Rogers,” Rooney said. “There are a lot of teams out there that struggle to find one good lefty and we’re fortunate to have a bunch of them. They’ve done a great job for us.”

UAB starter Dillon Napoleon kept 麻豆原创 off-balance most of the day with an array of changeups, limiting the Knights to just three hits through the first seven innings. Trailing 4-3, the Knights jump-started things with consecutive hits by Ronnie Richardson, Beau Taylor and D.J. Hicks.

Richardson was thrown out at third base for the second out of the inning, but Griffin followed up the two-strike singles by Taylor and Hicks with a behemoth home run that was never in question. The slugger was happy to see a fastball after seeing a variety of changeups and breaking balls most of the day.

“I was sitting on one pitch, but I was just trying to make sure that I saw the ball well again,” Griffin said. “I didn’t want to do too much with the ball and just try to get something up in the zone that I could hit.”

And did Griffin know the ball was gone as soon as it left the bat?

“Oh yeah, I knew as soon as I made contact with it that it had a good shot of going out,” Griffin said with a chuckle. “We battled so hard that inning. For Beau Taylor and D.J. to get those two-strike hits, those were the key at-bats to the inning. My at-bat obviously drove them in, but for them to keep battling and getting on base was huge for us.”

Griffin said the Knights’ late-season run has their confidence soaring, and they’ll be ready come Friday against Rice.

“Rice is a very good baseball team, but we’ve seen them three times this year and we know exactly what to expect from them,” said Griffin, who now has 53 RBI on the season. “We’ll come ready to play. We’ll slow the game down and take it pitch by pitch. But we have a lot of confidence now.”

John Denton’s Knights Insider appears on 麻豆原创Athletics.com several times a week. E-mail John at jdenton@athletics.ucf.edu.

Getting to Omaha sounded like a stretch since 麻豆原创 had not been to an NCAA Regional since 2004. But Rooney believed if you don’t talk about getting to college baseball’s ultimate destination, you never will get there.

The 2011 baseball version of the Knights just might be peaking at the right time as Rooney’s team heads to the conference tournament in Pearl, Miss. 麻豆原创 won five of its final six conference games and went from trying to hang on to the eighth spot in the league standings to a No. 4 seed as the postseason begins this Wednesday.

“I believe we are an NCAA team,” said Rooney. “I think we are as good as anyone in the country and have shown an ability to play at that level.”

With an RPI at 18 and a solid list of non-conference wins, 麻豆原创 enters the Conference USA Tournament feeling as if the team has done enough to earn an at-large bid to the NCAAs. Now Rooney’s team might be playing its way to a solid No.2 seed in a regional with a win or two in at least three games.

The Knights finished the regular season at 36-20 and played one of the nation’s toughest schedules. What gives 麻豆原创 a chance to play deep into the postseason is its ability to hit the long ball. The Knights led C-USA in home runs with 52. Senior first baseman Jonathan Griffin hit 16 homers and DH D.J. Hicks blasted 13 out-of-the-park.

“Any time you have a couple of guys who can go deep, every at-bat makes you a threat,” said Rooney. “Jonathan and D.J. are among the best in the country and we need that as we move forward.”

But the Knights have been more than Griffin and Hicks and home runs. Catcher Beau Taylor has been as hot as anyone in the country the last few weeks. Since moving back up the order from ninth to second, Taylor has hit almost .500.

Perhaps one at-bat has given Rooney hope that another big offensive weapon is returning. Shortstop Darnell Sweeney had struggled for the last few weeks. Sweeney showed signs of swinging like he did earlier in the year in the Marshall series this past weekend. But Sweeney belted his first homer of the season as part of a four-home run inning in Saturday’s regular-season finale. Sweeney seemed to let out a deep breath as he rounded the bases almost telling his teammates and fans that he is back at the plate and a threat moving forward.

Rooney may have also found depth when it comes to pitching. Senior Chase Bradford was brilliant in seven innings as the starter on Saturday to earn his sixth win in seven decisions. But freshman Ben Lively’s four-plus inning effort in Thursday night’s loss might be the biggest pitching news to note. Lively gave up no runs and seemed to regain his confidence which made him the ace of the staff earlier in the season. Add in the lefties of Joe Rogers, Nick Cicio and Johnny Sedlock out of the bullpen and 麻豆原创 may have the arms to play into late June.

“This team has done what we asked of them to get this far,” said Rooney. “Now we need to take things to another level as we move into the postseason.”

The postseason has not been something Rooney has had reason to get too excited about. But that’s about to change. His team heads to the league tournament knowing it has earned a place among the title contenders and the Knights expect to be playing in the NCAAs for the first time since 2004 and they are not just happy to possibly be back. There’s a place in Nebraska their coach has in mind and he expects his team to think as he does.

Source: Marc Daniels’ From the Press Boxruns several times per month on 麻豆原创Athletics.com. Listen to Marc during 麻豆原创 football, men’s basketball and baseball radio broadcasts on the 麻豆原创 Sports Network. Each weekday, Marc hosts The Beat of Sports on ESPN Radio 1080 in Orlando.

“At this time of year it’s all about the bottom line,” said head coach Terry Rooney. “Throughout the year it’s about the process, but right now to get to where we need to get to, it’s about the bottom line. And we found a way to hold on to the lead and get it done.”

All six runs in the third occurred on two-strike base hits, highlighted by a three-run home run by D.J. Hicks and a two-run blast by Erik Hempe. It was Hicks’ 13th round-tripper of the year and his 21st in two full seasons as a Knight, while Hempe’s was his fifth of 2011 and he went on to finish the night 4-for-5 with two RBI and three doubles, which were one shy of the school record (scoring change after the game changed Hempe’s hits from three to four).

“I knew it was gone. I got a good piece and got it up in the jet stream,” described Hempe of his third-inning home run. “Tonight was a big game for us. They’ve been pretty hot, but we had that one good inning that helped us get the win.”

Tuesday’s contest was a makeup game with this year’s Atlantic Sun regular-season champions after March 30 was rained out.

The Knights completed the victory by outhitting the Hatters, 13-11, and did not commit an error in their eighth-straight game, a streak that has lasted 77.2 innings.

Junior righty Ray Hanson improved to 4-2 in his 11th start of the year, tossing 5.0 innings with two strikeouts and two runs against on only three hits. Rogers nabbed his eighth save of 2011 by pitching the final 1.1 innings. The eight saves match his total as a freshman in 2010, while they are tied for third on the 麻豆原创 single-season list.

Stetson closer Robbie Powell got the nod to make his second start of the year Tuesday, and worked into one-out trouble in the top of the second on a double from Hempe and a walk to Ryan Breen. The Knights then tried a hit-and-run on the first pitch only to have Powell earn a lineout double play to end the stanza. And the Hatters responded immediately when Nick Rickles homered to leadoff the home half of the second vs. Hanson.

Trailing 1-0, 麻豆原创 decided to try and put the game away in the third, and it all began when Ronnie Richardson was plunked on a full count. After the center fielder stole second, Beau Taylor singled to left to get runners at the corners with one away, however Hicks fell behind in the count 1-2. That did not affect 麻豆原创’s top hitter, who sent a fly ball deep enough to left to get the run home. Only it kept carrying and Jeff Simpson, who started in on the ball, ran out of room as it just cleared the fence for a three-run jack.

And 麻豆原创 was clearly not content with a 3-1 lead. With the bases now empty, Jonathan Griffin drilled a single to left and Derek Luciano hammered a 2-2 pitch into the left-center gap for a RBI double to make it 4-1. Capping off the six-run inning, Hempe elegantly destroyed a 2-2 offering towards the old Stetson football stadium in left.

The Knights carried the 6-1 advantage into the fifth where a leadoff double from Hempe led to a run as Breen grounded out to the right side to move him over and Travis Shreve added a sacrifice fly to right.

Halfway through the evening, Stetson looked to halt 麻豆原创’s momentum in the bottom of the fifth on a RBI groundout by Mitchel Brennan, cutting it to 7-2. One inning later, the home team placed two aboard with one down vs. reliever Ben Lively who got the second out on a fielder’s choice. Facing Trey Blackman with runners at first and third, the catcher appeared to swing at strike three and the entire field started heading for the dugouts. But an appeal ruled that he did not go around, and Blackman proceeded to send a RBI single to right. The damage was limited to just one run due to Hempe’s arm in right as on the base hit, he fired a one-hopper to Luciano at third and he laid the tag down on Mark Jones who was attempting to race from first to third.

Chipping away, the Hatters returned in the seventh, greeting right-hander Bryan Brown with a run on a RBI single produced by Brennan. Following a walk to place two on base, Nick Cicio jogged in from the left-field pen, struck out Robert Crews, then witnessed Ben Carhart make it 7-5 on a base hit between first and second. Now with the dangerous Rickles digging in, Cicio kept the lead to two runs on a fly ball to center.

With the Stetson dugout rejuvenated, the Black and Gold was poised for an eighth-inning outburst, yet could not capitalize with Richardson at second and no outs, as well as two runners on with just one out. That came back to bite the Knights in the bottom half when Jones punished a solo homer to center.

Finding itself ahead by just a 7-6 margin in the ninth, 麻豆原创 felt the pressure to add another run when Hempe touched second thanks to Simpson dropping a fly ball at the wall to get the inning underway. And Hempe would be stranded as Jake Boyd struck out the next three Knights.

After he got the final out of the eighth, Rogers toed the rubber in the bottom of the ninth and the closer struck out pinch-hitter Kyle Zech looking at a 3-2 pitch however issued a free pass to Simpson. Crews promptly singled up the middle before Carhart lined out to center. With two away and Rickles sizing up Rogers, the first baseman sent a sharp grounder to his counterpart and Griffin was in perfect position to handle it for the final out.

麻豆原创 wraps up the regular season at home against Marshall with game one scheduled for Thursday at 6:30 p.m. It will be a “Salute to Champions” series as 麻豆原创’s C-USA championship coaches George O’Leary (football), Greg Brown (women’s basketball) and Caryl Smith Gilbert (track and field) will be honored in game one, and Amanda Cromwell (women’s soccer) will be the featured coach in game two Friday at 6:30 p.m. The series finale will be Senior Day at the park with first pitch set for noon.

The 10 C-USA victories are tied with last year’s squad for 麻豆原创’s most league wins since joining C-USA, which consistently ranks as one of the top-five conferences in the nation, in 2006.

“This was a great weekend in a weekend where we needed to play great,” said head coach Terry Rooney. “It was a total team effort and we saw a little bit of everything, including a shutout yesterday, 18 runs today and exceptional defense. We played well in every facet in these three games. It was an incredible job by our guys when we needed to play our best baseball.

“When we got back as a team in January, we talked about getting better throughout the year and the goal is to play our best baseball at the end of the season. That’s what great teams do. We have a long way to go and a very important week ahead of us with four games to potentially solidify us an NCAA at-large program. However we are playing a very good brand of baseball right now.”

麻豆原创’s mind-boggling streak of errorless ball continued Sunday where it did not have a miscue for the seventh-straight game. In all, the streak has lasted 68.2 innings dating back to the second inning at South Florida May 3.

And at the plate, 麻豆原创 pounded out a season-high 20 hits while matching its top run production of the year (won 18-0 vs. Boston College March 9). It was the most runs and hits in a C-USA contest by the Knights since a 29-9 win at UAB April 24, 2009, when they set a school record for runs and hits (28) in a game.

Of those 20 hits, 18 of them were singles. Beau Taylor was a perfect 4-for-4 with three RBI, D.J. Hicks went 4-for-6 with a pair of RBI and Erik Hempe and Ryan Breen both totaled three hits.

“It was an awesome weekend and an entire team effort. If it wasn’t for this team producing all of those hits I wouldn’t have been able to get four of them,” said Taylor. “The sweep is huge because we haven’t had one in conference all year. It helps us keep rolling into next week at Stetson and against Marshall.”

UAB starting righty Michael Busby had trouble finding the zone in the top of the first, plunking Ronnie Richardson and Taylor to kick off the afternoon. With two on and no outs, Hicks kept his hot bat rolling by grounding a RBI single up the middle, and Derek Luciano doubled the lead to 2-0 with a sacrifice fly to right. Now with just a man on first and two down, Hempe extended the inning with a single and Breen pushed it to 3-0 with a base hit to center to plate Hicks.

Trailing by three, the Blazers went to the pen to start the second and Ben Bullard watched as Taylor dropped a two-run single inside the left-field line, scoring Darnell Sweeney and Travis Shreve who were moved into scoring position on a sac bunt by Richardson.

Pitching with a 5-0 cushion, starter Chase Bradford allowed a RBI single that went about 15 feet off the bat of Nick Crawford in the bottom of the second. But he kept UAB to just the one run, stranding two on base when Coy Arrowood fouled out to Hempe in right.

The Knights’ bats returned in the third to try and stretch their lead, loading the bases with no outs against Mark McKinley. However a grounder back to the mound and two strikeouts permitted McKinley to escape the toughest of jams. With 麻豆原创 failing to put the game away, UAB looked to ride its momentum in the home half of the third and succeeded with three runs to close it to 5-4.

For the fourth-straight inning, though, 麻豆原创 got the leadoff man aboard and put together a scoring opportunity with a walk to Taylor and a double by Jonathan Griffin, who stayed on a 0-2 pitch to send it to left. McKinley pitched around Luciano to get it to 3-0 before the call for an intentional walk was made, only the right-hander threw it to the backstop and Taylor scampered home.

Looking for more in the fourth, Breen and Shreve both delivered RBI singles and Sweeney wrapped up the five-run frame with a two-run single of his own, and the Black and Gold was back in control at 10-4.

Although Bradford was able to put up zeroes in the fourth and fifth, he could not get out of the sixth where UAB tallied a pair of two-out runs. The Knights went to the pen for Matt Collins and the tall righty struck out Jamal Austin, leaving two Blazers on base.

After a perfect inning by southpaw Johnny Sedlock, 麻豆原创 entered the box in the eighth vs. Jacob German who hit Hempe and Shreve and gave up a single to Breen. With the bases jammed and no outs, Sweeney produced a sac fly to right, Richardson chopped a RBI single over John Frost at first and Taylor lined a run-scoring base hit into center. That made it 13-6 and UAB made the decision to go for its seventh pitcher of the day.

When David Hayes toed the rubber, Hicks, Luciano and Hempe all rapped out RBI hits to finish off the eight-run eighth, and Sedlock held UAB scoreless in its final at-bat to preserve the sweep.

麻豆原创 has one more road contest before finishing up the regular season at home vs. Marshall Thursday-Saturday as it heads to No. 15 Stetson Tuesday in a makeup game scheduled for 6:30 p.m. The C-USA Championship will take place May 25-29 in Pearl, Miss.

Game Notes

Griffin completed his work with a pair of doubles and drove in two, while Richardson added two RBI and scored two runs. Going yard for the Knights, D.J. Hicks capped off the five-run fourth with a three-run home run. It was Hicks’ 11th of the season and the 19th in two full seasons in a Black and Gold uniform, and it also allowed him to stretch his hitting streak to 10 games.

Toeing the rubber vs. the Bulls (22-22), Bryan Brown (2-1) matched a career-high with 5.0 innings, surrendering only two runs on five hits and striking out one to get the victory in his first start of the season.

“My freshman year I (pitched twice) against those guys and I didn’t feel too good about those games. So I really wanted to start,” said Brown. “Tonight my two-seam was working well, and the offense scoring early definitely made me more comfortable out there on the mound.”

麻豆原创 threatened immediately in the top of the first against righty Zach Pietrzyk, but stranded two runners with one out. In the home half vs. Brown, a slow roller by USF’s Jonathan Koscso resulted in a leadoff single, and after a sac bunt and single, Koscso scored on a groundout.

Although two hits did not produce a run in the top of the first, the Knights had two more hits in the second and this time succeeded when Beau Taylor lined a two-out, two-strike single into left-center to plate Travis Shreve from second. However the Bulls answered with another run in their version of the second to retake the lead at 2-1.

The opportunities continued to develop for the Black and Gold in the third, where Richardson singled off the first-base bag and touched second on a throwing error from Pietrzyk who attempted a pickoff play. Looking to even things back up again, Griffin fell behind 0-2 until going the opposite way for a RBI double to right. Following a single by Kevin Vasquez to place runners at the corners, Hempe fired a single to center and Derek Luciano completed the three-run frame with a sacrifice fly.

The Knights were not done. Lefty Trey Dahl entered from the pen in the fourth and witnessed 麻豆原创 load the bases with no outs, including a grounder back to the mound that Dahl picked up and simply dropped as he tried to throw to second. That would set the stage for a massive inning.

Entering Tuesday 2-for-4 on the year with the bases juiced, Richardson worked his way into a hitter’s count before lining a 2-0 pitch inside the third-base bag for a two-run double. Now ahead 6-2, Hicks pulled a line drive to right that had enough velocity on it to just clear the fence for a three-run jack. The five-run frame stretched 麻豆原创’s advantage to 9-2.

Brown preserved that lead through five innings and would take a seat in the sixth for Matt Collins, and the right-handed reliever pitched a scoreless frame, as did Hicks in the seventh.

Although the Bulls plated two runs in the eighth, Luciano’s two-out RBI single in the top of the ninth halted any chance at a USF comeback, and senior lefty Nick Cicio ventured from the pen in the ninth and breezed through the final frame to seal the win.

Game Notes

麻豆原创 – 28-17 Overall; South Florida – 22-22 Overall