Hicks, who began his professional career with the Elizabethton Twins June 19, finished the 2012 campaign batting .316 with 14 home runs, 72 RBI, a .560 slugging percentage and 56 walks.

“It is an honor and a blessing,” Hicks said from the road about his award. “I couldn’t have done it without all the support over the years. Through the high and the lows, the UCF nation always showed their support.

“I also couldn’t have asked for a better home for my college experiences. I especially want to thank my coaches for giving me an opportunity four years ago.”

The Altamonte Springs native closed out his UCF career as one of the most decorated student-athletes in program history. He was a NCBWA Third Team All-America honoree in 2011 and also was the preseason Conference USA Player of the Year in 2012 and the first Knights position player to be named to the Baseball America Midseason All-America Team this past April.

Hicks was a two-time NCAA Regional All-Tournament Team honoree and finished second all-time at UCF in sacrifice flies, fifth in home runs, sixth in RBI and seventh in walks. He ranks second all-time with a .995 fielding percentage and made 38 appearances on the mound.

Most recently, Hicks was selected in the 17th round of the First-Year MLB Draft with the 520th overall pick by the Minnesota Twins and signed shortly after.

UCF was pushed to a winner-take-all game for the NCAA Regional title on Monday after hot-hitting Stony Brook jumped to an early lead, withstood a seventh-inning rally and cruised to a 12-5 defeat of the Knights at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.

That sets up a 7 p.m. showdown on Monday night between second-seeded UCF (45-16) and fourth-seeded Stony Brook (49-12) for the right to advance to the Super Regional later this week.

UCF’s mantra “On the Road to Omaha” hit a pothole on Sunday, but head coach Terry Rooney stressed that the Knights are still very much a team on a mission and on the cusp of potential greatness.

“The message to the kids afterward was that we just need to play better and be better in every aspect of the game. (Monday) everything is there for you,” Rooney said. “Everything that you want to accomplish, everything you’ve done to put yourself in position to win a regional championship, is still there. We have a midnight rule (to forget) and we need to regroup. Tomorrow is a new day.”

UCF, which was in the winners bracket after beating Missouri State (2-1 on Friday) and Stony Brook (9-8 on Saturday), is attempting to win a NCAA Regional for the first time in school history. The Knights, ranked as high as seventh nationally this season, lost consecutive games just four times all season, and hope to rebound in Monday’s title game.

“We have to take advantage of our opportunities. You can’t miss those opportunities and expect to win games,” UCF standout centerfielder Ronnie Richardson said. “We’re keeping everyone up and we’re used to this. No one ever said it was going to be easy.”

The winner of the Coral Gables Regional will face LSU later this week in the Super Regional. The site for that will be determined by the NCAA on Monday or Tuesday.

“This is why we came here (is to win a regional). We started four years ago with coach (Rooney) and our goals are still right in front of us,” first standout baseman D.J. Hicks said. “We just have to take a hold of it tomorrow and carry it on to the Super Regional.”

Stony Brook pounded out 15 hits and scored three runs in an inning three times. All nine starters had at least one hit, the first five batters combined for 10 hits and standout centerfielder Travis Jankowski is 10 of 19 in the Regional after getting three more hits in Sunday’s nightcap. The Seawolves have scored 10, nine, 10 and 12 runs in four games.

The Knights had seven hits – with D.J. Hicks and Travis Shreve notching two hits apiece. Stony Brook’s Jasvir Rakkar (6-2) got the win in just his third start of the season. UCF is 2-1 in the regional, but it has just 20 hits in the three games.

Said Rooney: “Offensively we need to get it going. Stony Brook is an outstanding offensive club and we have an outstanding club. It’s time for our offense to start clicking and putting up double-digit hits and crooked-number innings.”

Down 8-2 much of the night, the Knights mounted a furious rally in the bottom of the seventh to put a scare into Stony Brook. A RBI single by Shreve and a bases loaded walk from Darnell Sweeney got the Knights to within 8-4.

The biggest play of the night came when Chris Taladay hit a sharp liner into the hole, but Stony Brook shortstop Cole Peragine dove to make a catch that prevented two runs from scoring. Alex Friedrich drove in the fifth run and UCF slugger Hicks came to the plate with a chance to tie the game. Hicks, who homered in the second inning, was called out on a controversial check swing to end the rally.

Stony Brook got to Sunday’s title game by scoring seven runs in the seventh inning to beat Missouri State 10-7. Stony Brook has proven to be an extremely resilient team throughout this NCAA Regional. The Seawolves routed Miami on Friday after the Hurricanes had tied the game at 2. They fell behind UCF 5-0 on Saturday and clawed back and wiped out deficits of 5-0 and 7-2 earlier Sunday against Missouri State.

Nearly flawless defensively in the first two games of the NCAA Regional, UCF had problems with a couple of throws in the second inning to put itself in a hole. When Kevin Krause scored on a ground out to put Stony Brook up 1-0, it was UCF’s first deficit in 20 innings of this regional.

Throwing errors by Sweeney and Shreve played a big role in Stony Brook’s next two runs, dropping the Knights into a 3-0 hole.

Hicks, who was dropped into the fifth hole in the order before the game, snapped out of a mini-slump with a 390-foot blast to left-center in the second inning. The home run was the first for Hicks since May 6, a span of 23 games.

“I hadn’t been doing too great of late. But the season is coming to an end with a few games left with (Monday’s game), the Super Regionals and Omaha, so I told myself to relax and see the ball better,” Hicks said. “I had to stop trying to do too much. I did that today and I have to carry it over to (Monday).”

Stony Brook broke the game open with a run in the third and three more in the fourth inning to grab a commanding 7-1 lead. Stony Brook had nine hits through four innings, knocking UCF starter Eric Skoglund out of the game and greeting reliever Bryan Brown with three straight RBI at-bats.

Rooney has said for days that his Knights came to Miami as a team on a mission, and they will get another chance to complete that mission on Monday night. Rooney has praised his team’s consistency and resiliency all season and they will need a big bounce-back effort on Monday to secure the biggest win in school history.

“I’m extremely confident. (Bouncing back) is what we’ve done all year long,” Rooney said. “We haven’t had many occasions where we have lost consecutive games and we’ve always figured out a way to get the job done.

“The thing I’m most proud of is the consistency we’ve played with all year,” Rooney continued. “Consistency means you don’t have losing streaks because you learned from what you did. Do you learn why you lost? It’s not good enough to just say, `Well, tomorrow is a new day and we’ll be OK.’ You have to know what you need to do to get better. Every goal we want is still ahead of us and we just have to play the game better. Play the game, let it rip and have fun.”

Closer Joe Rogers started the inning out by pitching out of a bases loaded, no-out jam, and Ronnie Richardson and Chris Taladay followed with clutch hits that allowed UCF to escape with a 2-1 defeat of Missouri State in Game 1 play of the NCAA Regional.

UCF (44-15) had to wait out a 2-hour, 40-minute rain delay to finish out the ninth inning and the 15th NCAA Tournament victory in school history. But throughout the delay and afterward, the Knights couldn’t stop thinking about the dramatics of the eighth inning.

“Huge moment is an understatement,” Rooney said. “During the delay we were talking amongst ourselves with the coaches and I said that inning had the potential to go down as one of the greatest innings in the history of UCF baseball. When you think about a 1-1 game in the NCAA Regional, bases loaded and nobody out, and for Joe Rogers to work out of that, it was incredible.

“And then to come back and get the go-ahead run in the bottom half of the eighth, that had everything you would want in a college baseball game,” Rooney added.

The standouts were aplenty on Friday for second-seeded UCF. Lefty Chris Matulis pitched the ninth inning for the first save of his college career, while starter Ben Lively shut out third-seeded Missouri State (39-21) over 5 2/3 innings. Richardson, UCF’s do-everything leadoff hitter, opened the bottom of the first with a home run and started the go-ahead rally in the eighth. Chris Taladay singled in Richardson to give the Knights a lead that they would not surrender.

“Ronnie is a quick guy, so I knew anything that I saw up (in the strike zone) I was going after it,” Taladay said. “ It was a changeup early in the count and I was just trying to make some early action.”

In a NCAA Regional for a second straight year, UCF will face Stony Brook, a 10-2 winner over host Miami on Friday night,聽at 7 p.m.聽Saturday. Friday’s win allowed UCF to stay out of the loser’s bracket like last season. The experience of the 2011 Tallahassee region was a huge factor on Friday, Taladay said.

“That experience helps a lot, especially how we ended it last year,” said Taladay, referring to UCF’s two losses to Alabama last spring. “We don’t want that again. We’re not looking to lose again. We’re coming out fighting this year.”

UCF’s victory was significant considering the quality of competition on the mound on Friday. Missouri State starter Nick Petree was named the Louisville Slugger National Player of the Year on Thursday after leading the nation in ERA this season at 0.92. But the Knights got two hits from Richardson and the go-ahead looper from Taladay to push across the two runs against Petree.

“Ronnie Richardson is one of the best players in the country and is one of the most clutch players in college baseball,” Rooney said. “He rose up and it goes back to the adage that your best players rise up in the biggest situation. He did that by getting the hit there late.”

UCF played well defensively all day with several gems, but its biggest play of the day might have been a dropped popup in foul territory. With the bases loaded in eighth inning, Missouri State’s Eric Cheray lofted a fly ball down the line in left. Ryan Breen, who was making just his seventh start of the season in left field, couldn’t handle the popup in foul territory. It’s probably a good thing since Breen would have had a difficult time throwing out a tagging Luke Voit. Cheray ultimately popped up and UCF got out of the jam when Travis Shreve gloved a grounder and flipped to second base.

Rogers allowed two singles and a walk to load the bases early in the eighth, but he kept his calm as he registered the next three outs to get out of the jam.

“That eighth inning was crazy. It was probably the biggest inning I’ve ever pitched in my life,” said Rogers (5-1), who was credited with the win. “I got down with no outs, but I just told myself that I’ve got to go do it. It was a situation where I had to clear my head and go pitch-to-pitch.”

Missouri State, which had 12 runners left on base during the game, tied the game at 1-all in the seventh inning by stringing together a double and a single. Pinch-hitter Dillon Becker’s fly ball to left field carried in the wind blowing out and hit off the wall for a double. UCF kept the game tied later in the inning when Alex Friedrich’s throw from right field nabbed Kevin Medrano off third base.

UCF sophomore starter Ben Lively, who pitched well last week in the Conference USA tournament to regain his momentum after a poor outing late in the regular season against Rice, was clutch throughout Friday’s first six innings. In 5 2/3 innings, he struck out six batters, but more importantly he stranded seven Missouri State base runners.

Lively jammed hitters early in counts with fastballs and used a good slider to get strikeouts. He allowed just three hits and pitched around four walks. Of his 113 pitches, 62 went for strikes. Richardson’s leadoff home run calmed his nerves and he hung tough as he out of several jams.

“(Richardson’s home run) pumped me up right away and with the way the game was going I knew it was going to be a close game,” Lively said. “I thought that might have won the game right there. It helped me get locked in the whole game.”

UCF got stellar defensive plays early in the game from Friedrich, D.J. Hicks and Breen to maintain the 1-0 lead. Hicks scooped up a low throw in the second inning to keep a runner at second base, while Friedrich made a diving catch near the right field line in the third with two runners on base.

And in the fourth inning, Breen caught a fly ball before crashing into the wall. Usually a catcher, Breen was making just his seventh start in left field because of a sore wrist. And in the fifth, a hard ground ball deflected off Hicks’ glove, but Travis Shreve scooped it up to make the play.

Lively pitched out of trouble in each of the first three runs to keep the Knights ahead, 1-0. With the bases loaded in the top of the first, Lively induced a check swing on a ball in the dirt and when the runner broke from third he was easily tagged out. He ended the second inning with two strikeouts after a Missouri State runner had reached second base.

With two on in the third, Friedrich dove to catch a looper near the right field line, preventing one if not two runs from scoring.

Carrillo and Sweeney made outstanding plays in the sixth inning to stem another Missouri State rally. Carrillo snagged a hard hit ball early in the inning to start a double play. Then, after Madrid relieved Lively, Sweeney went deep into the hole and forced a runner at third to end the inning. For Sweeney, a Miramar native, the game was somewhat of a homecoming.

UCF couldn’t build on its 1-0 lead when it missed great scoring chances in the third and fourth innings. After the first two hitters of the third reached, Petree retired the next three Knights. And with two runners on in the fourth, UCF couldn’t convert a sacrifice and ran themselves out of the inning.

And in the bottom of the eighth inning, UCF used Rogers’ working out of a jam to build some momentum to push across the winning run. Rooney said his Knights are playing with a purpose and Friday’s victory shows the resiliency of the squad.

“The one thing I’m the most proud of all year with these kids is their consistency. Every single day they have shown up and anytime we’ve had to bounce back they’ve done it,” Rooney said. “I do not worry one bit about the mental state of our team. They are kids who are confident and proven and they are here, quite honestly, on a mission trying to do something great.”

Now, a year after simply reaching a NCAA Regional in 2011, the Knights are hoping to use that experience to benefit them greatly when they head to Coral Gables later this week to face Missouri State and then possibly either Miami or Stony Brook.

Gathered around televisions at The MOAT Monday afternoon, UCF’s players, coaches and fans let out a loud roar when it was revealed that the Knights (43-15) earned a second seed in the Miami region and will face Missouri State (39-20) in first-round play of the double-elimination weekend.

“That experience from last year will help us tremendously. We don’t want that same feeling that we had last year when we left out of Florida State. We want to make it a totally different feeling this year,” standout centerfielder Ronnie Richardson said. “Last year we lost our first game and you really don’t want to lose that first game because it puts you in a bad position. We’re going to take it one game at a time and try to win every game.”

UCF, which spent all season ranked nationally, will be playing in a NCAA Regional in Coral Gables for the first time in school history. The Knights had played previously in Tallahassee seven times, in Gainesville twice and once in Columbia, S.C.

As for Miami, the Knights split a pair of games, winning in Coral Gables where this week’s Regional will be held.

“To be able to go down to Miami is pretty cool. And to be able to avoid Florida and Florida State for now is good, too,” Richardson said. “Maybe we’ll meet them in Omaha (at the College World Series), that would be cool, too.”

Head coach Terry Rooney, the architect of UCF’s turnaround in baseball, feels the Knights got loads of positive experience from qualifying for a NCAA Regional last season and that will pay off this week. UCF defeated Bethune-Cookman, but lost two games to Alabama last spring. The Knights started this season with a theme of `good to great,’ and winning this weekend and reaching a Super Regional would qualify as another huge step for the program.

“First and foremost, nothing can replace experience. Last year was the first time any of the players in our program had gone to a NCAA Regional. Now that we’ve been there I think that experience will help us moving forward,” Rooney said. “At the beginning of the year, our theme was `good to great,’ and when you talk about our regular season we achieved that with more than 40 wins and second place in the conference. Now, we’ve put ourselves in a good position to win a regional.”

UCF will open against a Missouri State team that ranked 35th in the nation this season in RPI and notched several impressive victories. The Bears swept two games from Oklahoma State, beat Purdue, swept three games from Creighton and also toppled Kansas (twice), Kansas State and Wichita State (twice). Missouri State lost to NCAA Tournament team, Missouri, 4-3 in 11 innings on April 25 and 10-5 on May 9. The Bears lost 3-2 in 10 innings to Southern Illinois in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinals.

“It’s a great regional. We obviously know about Miami having had the opportunity to play them and it’s an outstanding program,” Rooney said. “Stony Brook is a four seed, but they are clearly one of the best in the entire bracket. And with Missouri State, just look at their record and the teams that they beat. The point being that it’s an outstanding, competitive regional.”

UCF has won at Alex Rodriguez Stadium twice in the last three years and will go to South Florida quite familiar with their surroundings. UCF defeated Miami 4-1 on April 4 behind a home run from Richardson, two RBI from standout first baseman D.J. Hicks and work from six pitchers. The Knights feel that playing in a park where they have had success will also be an advantage for them.

“I think it is an advantage (playing in Miami). For me personally I love playing there because the ball flies. So you don’t have to swing quite as hard,” Hicks said.聽“A lot of us love playing down there.”

After a slow start in the C-USA Tournament, UCF rallied to defeat East Carolina and Tulane and will take plenty of momentum with it into the Regional. Rooney said every decision he makes over the weekend will be with the mindset of trying to win the weekend and push the Knights further into the NCAA tourney.

“When you talk about the pitching matchups, to me two things are important. Number one is that you are playing one game at a time and I mean that. I know it’s a coach’s clich茅, but it’s true,” Rooney said. “And number two, you are there to win the regional. We talk about this `On the Road to Omaha,’ and `Good to Great,’ but at the end of the day we’re playing to get to Omaha. We feel comfortable going down there and any decision that we is trying to win a regional. You think short term and about the whole regional, too. We’re just very excited about this opportunity.”

NCAA Regional Tickets and Fan Event

To order NCAA Regional tickets, call the 海角直播 of Miami ticket office starting Tuesday at 305-284-2263. Ticket packages are $90 for field box, $60 for chairback, $45 for adult general admission and $30 for youth, seniors and students. Individual day passes will go on sale later this week.

The Golden Knights Club will host an event for Knights fans from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, June 1, at Buffalo Wild Wings at the Shops at Sunset Place, 5701 Sunset Drive, South Miami. Complimentary food will be provided.

So it鈥檚 only fitting now 鈥� two games deep into an epic UCF-Rice winner-take-all series 鈥� that the two teams are again tied with one final game on Saturday at 1 p.m. to decide the regular-season champions of Conference USA.

No. 13 UCF (41-13 overall and 16-7 in C-USA play) outlasted No. 4 Rice 8-6 in the conclusion of Game 1聽 of the series to put itself in position to win its first C-USA title. However, No. 4 Rice (38-15 and 16-7) refused to go away quietly, topping the Knights 9-2 in the rain-delayed nightcap to set up a deciding game on Saturday for the league title.

鈥淲e talk all of the time about championship Sunday; well, it鈥檚 championship Saturday now,” UCF head coach Terry Rooney said. “Every single weekend we鈥檝e talked about (winning a championship). So we鈥檒l be there at 1 o鈥檆lock. What else could you ask for?”

Friday night鈥檚 result put somewhat of a damper on UCF鈥檚 8-6 win earlier in the day and its chance to win a first conference title since 2005 when it was still a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference. A boisterous crowd of 2,687 fans 鈥� the fifth-largest all-time at the UCF Baseball Complex and most ever against a non-Florida team 鈥� saw the Knights tie the game at 2-all in the fourth inning. However, Rice put the game away by scoring two runs in the fifth, two in the eighth and two in the ninth.

UCF knew all along knocking out Rice would be extremely difficult considering the Owls鈥� championship pedigree. Rice has made 17-straight NCAA Tournament appearances and has reached the College World Series six times. Now, the Knights must knock out the longtime champs in order to get themselves a championship ring.

鈥淲e kind of figured it would come down to this,鈥欌�� said junior center fielder Ronnie Richardson, who scored two twice in UCF鈥檚 8-6 Game 1 win and had a hit in Game 2. “We just have to go win (on Saturday). It鈥檚 the definition of championship Sunday, even though it won鈥檛 be Sunday.鈥欌��

Rooney now must decide on a starting pitcher for Saturday鈥檚 winner-take-all game. He could start veteran lefthander Brian Adkins (3-4, 4.20 ERA), Ray Hanson (4-1, 3.51 ERA) or freshman lefty Eric Skoglund (5-1, 2.01). Rooney said he鈥檒l opt for the pitcher who can throw the most strikes after the Knights鈥� pitchers walked 14 batters and hit three in the two games.

Adkins, a fixture of the rotation the past three games, is desperately hoping he gets the chance to start after slumping down the stretch. Adkins is a finesse pitcher who relies on location and change of speeds.

鈥淚t鈥檚 huge. Personally I鈥檝e never had a chance to play for a championship of this magnitude, so I鈥檓 very excited and hoping to seize this opportunity,鈥欌�� Adkins said. “(Starting) is what I鈥檓 hoping for. Obviously, I want the ball with the game on the line or the series on the line.鈥欌��

Trailing 2-0 in the fourth inning, the Knights turned to the bottom of their order to tie the game up. Jeramy Matos drilled a double into the left field corner to plate Ryan Breen, who had walked. With two outs, Travis Shreve lined the ball up the middle 鈥� his fourth hit in the two games 鈥� to knot the game at 2-all.

鈥淎ll season we have given coach gray hairs with one-run games, so it鈥檚 kind of fitting that it will come down to this last game for championship (Saturday),鈥欌�� said Shreve, who pointed at his family in the stands upon tying up the game. “They鈥檙e going through the same conditions as us, so there are no excuses. What it comes down to is the tougher team is going to win. They鈥檙e a great team and we鈥檙e a great team, and we have to do what we can to win.”

Rice retook a two-run lead in the fifth inning without getting a hit. Two walks, a hit batter, a wild pitch and a fielder鈥檚 choice plated two runs to put the Owls up 4-2.

UCF closer Joe Rogers finished off Rice in Game 1, striking out Michael Fuda with two runners on to preserve the 8-6 victory. Remarkably, the conclusion of the game came just a few minutes shy of when it started 24 hours earlier. Rogers, already UCF鈥檚 all-time leader in saves, tied a UCF season-record with his 12th save of the year.

The Game 1 victory was UCF鈥檚 first defeat of a top-five team since last April when the Knights topped No. 5 Florida at the UCF baseball complex.

UCF started Friday with an 8-3 lead, but the advantage shrunk to 8-6 after reliever Roman Madrid walked in two runs and gave up a run-scoring single. Right fielder Alex Friedrich made sure Rice got no closer, throwing out Rice鈥檚 Shane Hoelscher at the plate for his seventh outfield assist of the season.

In the early innings on Thursday, UCF rattled and knocked Rice standout starter Matthew Reckling out of the game in third inning with a pair of two-RBI hits from Darnell Sweeney and Chris Taladay. Sweeney drove a 3-1 pitch to the opposite field for a double that scored Nick Carrillo and Travis Shreve, who had reached on a walk and a hit-and-run single respectively. Taladay made it 4-0 with another hit to left-center and D.J. Hicks pushed the score to 5-0 with his 66th RBI of the season.

Friedrich, UCF鈥檚 most consistent hitter all season, made Rice pay for intentionally walking Hicks in front of him by stroking a double to clear the bases in the fourth inning. The three-run shot to the wall gave the Knights a commanding 8-0 lead after four innings.

Now, after a season鈥檚 worth of games, a suspended contest, lengthy rain delays on Thursday and Friday and victories by both squads it comes down one game on Saturday for UCF or Rice to win a championship. Richardson said he鈥檚 fully confident that his team will rise to the occasion on the big stage and produce in Saturday鈥檚 winner-take-all game.

鈥淲e dreamed about this and this is why we came to UCF. Coach Rooney put together the foundation of this team and now it鈥檚 just about us going out to perform.鈥欌��

The Knights (40-12, 15-5), who became the third team in the nation to reach 40 wins this year, broke out for four runs in the third, five in the fourth and a pair in the seventh and eighth to finish off the Thundering Herd (16-34, 4-17) and improve their road record to 15-3 overall and 10-2 in Conference USA.

UCF’s bats exploded for 15 hits, including a pair of home runs in the contest. Junior Chris Taladay smashed his first-career grand slam while Ronnie Richardson, D.J. Hicks and Jeramy Matos each had three-hit performances.

“(It was) a very determined group of guys today,” UCF head coach Terry Rooney said postgame. “Nobody was happy with the outcome yesterday. For these guys to bounce back the way they did today was without question a determined group. Anytime you can go on the road and win the series, it is a heck of a weekend.”

Before their winner-take-all C-USA series against Rice on Thursday-Saturday, the Knights will host in-state rival Stetson Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. Fans can enjoy dollar hot dogs all game long.

Facing a 3-0 hole heading into the top of the third, UCF responded in a big way as Travis Shreve hit a single, Richardson reached on an error and Darnell Sweeney sent the ball into center field to load the bases. Taladay wasted no time in unloading them as he smashed a 1-0 pitch over the right field wall for UCF’s first grand slam in 364 days (Erik Hempe at UAB).

The long ball wasn’t done for the Knights as Matos led off the top of the fourth with a screaming shot over the left-field wall for his fourth homer of the year. UCF responded with four more runs in the frame, including Hicks’ 65th RBI on a double and Alex Friedrich’s 34th to bring home the first baseman.

Marshall answered UCF’s nine-run two-inning barrage with three runs of its own to get back within striking distance, but the Knights would put the game away for good.

After scoreless frames from lefty Chris Matulis and righty Roman Madrid, the Knights tacked on two more in the top of the seventh after a leadoff walk to Nick Carrillo and a single up the middle by Matos led to Richardson bringing home the duo with a single over the pitcher’s mound for his third hit of the game.

Matos’ career day at the plate continued with his seventh double of the year well over the left fielder’s head to score Taladay and Hicks in the eighth. In the bottom-half of the frame, Madrid finished off his longest outing of the year (3 IP, 3 Ks) with a 6-4-3 double play.

Fresh off of breaking the school’s all-time saves record, lefty Joe Rogers appeared in his 74th game as a Knight and retired the Herd in order with two flyouts and his 42nd strikeout of the year to preserve Bryan Brown’s third win of the year.

News & Notes:

-UCF celebrated Mother’s Day at the ballpark as many team mothers and grandmothers made the trip to Charleston, including Kimmy Trivett, who made her first baseball weekend road trip this year with her husband Lynn. The couple made the trek after Kimmy was cleared by her doctors after being recently diagnosed with breast cancer and undergoing radiation treatments. With a clean bill of health, the huge supporters enjoyed the trip which included the entire team signing a Mother’s Day card and posing for a team picture with Kimmy.

The Central Florida Future sports staff compiled a list using a variety of criteria, including impact on and off the field, career achievements, success of the program and buzz and exposure created for the school.

While things seemed pretty clear at the top of the list, it got a bit complicated as we neared the bottom, so included at the end is a 鈥渇irst four out,鈥� which lists a few other deserving Knights.

Here are the Future鈥檚 top 10 most valuable Knights:

1. Octavious Freeman, sprinter, track & field 鈥� This isn鈥檛 even a question. Freeman may very well be the fastest woman on the planet (her 11.10 in the 100 meters in Gainesville is the fastest time for a woman in the event this year, professional or amateur), or at least among them. Freeman came to campus as arguably the most sought-after recruit ever to choose the black and gold. Most importantly, a likely future Olympian, perhaps even a gold-medalist, is a UCF Knight.
2. D.J. Hicks, first baseman, baseball 鈥� He鈥檚 the guy carrying the big stick for the resident top-15 baseball team. Hicks was voted the preseason Conference USA Player of the Year and a preseason All American, and he鈥檚 delivered. He鈥檚 done it in ways outside of just sending the ball over the fence. Hicks is batting .329 with a team-leading 55 RBIs (Chris Taladay comes in second with 30). Hicks provides a lot of the excitement to be had at Jay Bergman Field, leading the team with 10 home runs. In short, Hicks is the face of a program that may be contending for a national championship in Omaha, Neb., this summer.
3. Mackenzie Audas, pitcher, softball 鈥� In a sport where a pitcher can dominate and take the mound nearly every game, there truly is nothing more valuable than an ace. The Knights have theirs. The freshman has come in and in a flash become the face of the program, posting shutout after shutout, including this biggest win of the season, a 2-0 victory over the then-No. 3 Florida Gators at the UCF Softball Complex. What鈥檚 more? She鈥檚 going to be rocking the black and gold for three more years.
4. Keith Clanton, forward, men鈥檚 basketball 鈥� He鈥檚 Mr. Reliable for a program that is on an upward trend and has embraced increasing expectations. Clanton is one of the few players who can quietly register a double-double, racking up rebounds and often scoring at ease in the paint or on the perimeter. Clanton led the Knights, averaging 14.5 points per game and 8.1 rebounds per game, and perhaps most importantly hit the go-ahead free throw with just seconds remaining in UCF鈥檚 historic win over Memphis.
5. Kevan George, midfielder, men鈥檚 soccer 鈥� The 29th pick in the this year鈥檚 MLS SuperDraft, selected by Columbus Crew, was an integral part of a loaded men鈥檚 soccer team that took the program to new heights in 2011. George led the team in assists (7) and had two game-winning goals to his credit in 2011, one of which game in the first round of the NCAA Championship against Florida Gulf Coast.
6. Isaiah Sykes, guard/forward, men鈥檚 basketball 鈥� Sykes was easily the most improved player on the roster this season and made a strong case for most improved player in the nation. The sophomore from Detroit continued doing the things he did well as a freshman: rebounding, defending and grabbing loose balls. But in the 2011-12 season he started scoring. A lot. Sykes averaged 12.3 points per game and had a few 20-point efforts to his name. Sykes got more confident in his jump shot as the season went on and, of course, delivered more than a few SportsCenter-worthy highlights.
7. Josh Robinson, defensive back, football 鈥� The Knights鈥� defensive backfield took a blow when this junior defender declared for the NFL Draft. Then, the program enjoyed some exposure when Robinson made a huge splash at the NFL Combine. Robinson鈥檚 4.33-second time in the 40-yard dash was the fastest of any athlete at any position at the Combine. Accordingly, Robinson, who came to the program as a four-star recruit out of high school, saw his stock shoot upward. Any time a Knight goes in the earlier rounds of the Draft, it鈥檚 a victory for everybody.
8. Tishia Jewell, forward, women鈥檚 soccer 鈥� The 5-foot-6 senior out of Satellite Beach was an integral part of a women鈥檚 soccer program that ranked among the top in the nation. Jewell finished 2011 as a Third Team All-American and a C-USA First Team honoree. Jewell dished out 10 assists, putting her at No. 24 nationally, and scored seven goals. On a program that has been consistently good for quite some time, Jewell shined this year, scoring two game-winning goals.
9. Jackie Coward, sprinter, track & field 鈥� She is the most accomplished athlete in the program鈥檚 history, and Coward is also the commitment that started it all. Coward was the first All-American to come to UCF and join coach Caryl Smith Gilbert in her vision of what the program could become. Speedsters like Freeman and Aurieyall Scott may not have selected UCF out of high school had it not been for Coward. The senior sprinter will be chasing Olympic dreams at the U.S. Trials this summer.
10. Alex Friedrich, right fielder, baseball 鈥� It鈥檚 probably the best sports story on campus. Friedrich, who graduated from nearby 海角直播 High School, had no major college offers despite his stellar high school career. Undaunted, Friedrich came to UCF and walked on with the program, no small achievement. But he wasn鈥檛 done. Friedrich gradually earned more and more playing time, and now the senior right fielder who came to campus without a scholarship offer is one of the top hitters on one of the top baseball teams in the country. Friedrich is batting .351 and also has quite the arm in the outfield with five assists this season.

Just missed out:

UCF, winners in five of its last six in Hattiesburg, smacked 13 hits, including five of the extra-base variety, and had , and all notch multiple-RBI performances. Senior went 6 2/3 innings and allowed just two earned runs while striking out five for his third win of the year.

“Our theme on Saturday and Sunday was to play like we had something to prove. These guys responded (after Friday) the last two days, and I couldn’t be prouder of them,” UCF head coach said. “What a resilient group of guys.”

One of the more impressive and painful records fell on Sunday as center fielder (3-for-4) was hit in back-to-back at-bats to give him 23 on the year, and 53 for his career. He passed for the single-season record in the category.

The Knights, leaders of Conference USA at 9-3, will have a short turnaround as they host Florida Atlantic on Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m.

After each pitcher made it through the first two innings with ease, USM’s Boomer Scarborough ran into trouble in the third after he walked Hicks (1-for-4, 2 RBI) and Taladay (2-for-3, 2 RBI) to lead off the frame. laid down a sacrifice bunt that left all the runners safe. After a balk to bring home a run, Breen (2-for-5, 4 RBI) smacked his third triple of the year down the right-field line to end Scarborough’s afternoon. would tack on one more run on a RBI-groundout.

UCF extended its lead in the top of the fifth after Southern Miss put up two runs in the previous frame. Taladay extended his hitting streak to eight games with a double to the wall in right-center and was brought home on a RBI groundout by Breen. tacked on a run-scoring single over the shortstop’s outstretched glove in shallow center to make it 6-2.

The Knights added exclamation points to the triumph with three runs each in the sixth and seventh frames on seven hits. Taladay took a 0-1 pitch to center field for a pair of RBI in the sixth and Hicks smashed a two-run homer, his 10th of 2012, over the left-center wall in the seventh to give him 54 RBI on the year.

and finished off the contest that saw all three arms allow just five Southern Miss hits on the day.

News & Notes
-Coming into the year, UCF had never won consecutive Conference-USA series to open a season, but the Knights have won all four league series in 2012.
-Breen, Friedrich and Taladay extended their hitting streaks to eight games.
-On the week, UCF’s pitching staff put up a 1.99 ERA, and it has a 2.83 earned run average this year.
-Brown made his 68th-career appearance, seventh all-time at UCF.

The story of the night was UCF’s stellar pitching. Freshman Eric Skoglund started and earned his team-leading fourth win. He gave way to Matt Collins, Ben Lively, Bryan Brown, Roman Madrid and closer Joe Rogers. The staff combined for 10 strikeouts and stranded 10 Hurricanes on the base paths.

Juniors Ronnie Richardson and D.J. Hicks, who was named to the Baseball America Midseason All-American team earlier in the day, continued their clutch hitting by combining for three of the Knights’ four hits and a pair of RBI.

“The theme for tonight was being clutch,” UCF head coach Terry Rooney said after the game. “When you are playing great teams, that’s what it comes down to – who makes the clutch pitch and who makes the clutch hit. Obviously we had that tonight.”

The Knights, who have won 14 of their last 16 games, return home to the friendly confides of the UCF baseball complex for a three-game weekend series with UAB beginning Friday night at 6:30 p.m.

With a scoreless game in the top of the third, Richardson took a 2-0 Javi Salas pitch just around the left-field foul pole for his third home run in five games. The Knights have now hit a dinger in seven-straight contests this season.

Hicks led off the fourth inning with what looked like a harmless fly ball, but with the wind blowing well out to left-center, it carried and dropped in front of Miami’s Rony Rodriguez. Hicks advanced on a fielding error after the ball dropped and was brought home by Taladay who grounded a chopper to the shortstop for his 23rd RBI of the season.

Miami wouldn’t go down easily as they entered the scoring column on a Stephen Perez RBI double to right-center off Brown. Madrid came in with one out and the tying run on third. He promptly struck out Dale Carey and forced All-American Peter O’Brien to ground out to him on a nasty slider.

UCF responded in the top of the eighth with two runs of its own. Richardson led off the frame and took first on his 16th hit-by-pitch of the season. Darnell Sweeney laid down a beautiful sacrifice bunt to move him to second. Hicks, tied for first in the nation in RBI entering the game, belted home his 43rd of 2012 on a 3-2 line drive down the left-field line. Alex Friedrich was able to score Hicks as he sent a chopper that ate up Perez at short.

Madrid returned in the eighth and featured more of his filthy repertoire by striking out a Miami batter to begin and end the frame. Rogers worked a perfect ninth, including a strikeout to finish the game, for his 24th-career save and seventh of 2012.

In the series, the Knights outscored Houston, 20-5, and managed a home run in each contest to improve to 6-1 on the road this season.

“We talked before the game about toughness,” head coach Terry Rooney said. “A lot of the time it is about finding a will and a way. We made the comment, `whatever it takes’ and the guys did that today against a very good Houston team with an outstanding starting pitcher.”

UCF’s pitching staff shined once again with starter Ray Hanson putting up 5 2/3 innings in his weekend debut. He allowed just one run on six hits. Roman Madrid and Joe Rogers combined to lock down the rest of the game with Rogers moving to 3-0 on the year.

The top of the order (1-5) notched all 10 of the Knights’ hits, including Hicks, Richardson and Taladay who drove in one run apiece.

The Knights will regroup on Monday and Tuesday before heading to Miami for their in-state battle with the Hurricanes Wednesday night at 6 p.m.

Leading off the game, Richardson wasted no time in getting the Knights out ahead as he smacked a 3-2 pitch over the left-field. It was the first dinger to start a contest for UCF since Shane Brown went yard against Marshall on April 23, 2010.

After setting down the first batter in the second, Hanson ran into some trouble with back-to-back singles and an error that loaded the bases. He worked his way out of the frame unscathed by getting Houston’s Jake Runte to popup to Sweeney at short.

Houston tied up the game, 1-1, in the bottom of the fourth on a suicide squeeze, but that would be the only run of the day for the Cougars (10-16, 1-5).

Hanson worked himself out of a jam once again in the fifth by stranding the bases loaded for the second time. The following inning, he maneuvered around a leadoff walk and induced a 1-6-3 double play. In all, UCF pitchers were able to strand 37 Cougars on the base paths this weekend.

Tied 1-1 entering extra innings for the first time this season, Richardson sent a single into left-center and took third on a Sweeney (2-for-5) base knock through the right side. Houston made a pitching change for the lefty-lefty matchup with Hicks (2-for-4), but it didn’t matter as he ripped a 3-1 fastball past the second baseman to bring home Richardson. Taladay (3-for-5) added an insurance run with a liner at the knees of Houston’s Jordan Mannisto that went into center field and plated Sweeney.

Rogers, who relieved Madrid in the eighth after 1 1/3 hitless innings, tossed three lights out frames for his longest outing of the season. The Winter Haven native struck out three Houston batters in his 59th-career relief appearance.

News & Notes: