UCF and Rice will battle for the Conference USA title after each team won and lost a game on Friday.

“It’s championship Saturday every single weekend we have talked about it and we will be there tomorrow at 1 o’clock what else can you ask for?” said head coach Terry Rooney after the game.

The Knights’ bats failed to wake up during the second game. UCF only had four hits against Rice’s nine.

Jeramy Matos came up clutch in the fourth inning after hitting a double and bringing in Ryan Breen for UCF’s first run of the game. Matos went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Matos later scored on a Travis Shreve single.

RHP Ben Lively exited the game after allowing five runs in 5.2 innings. Garrett Nuss took over with a man on base and two outs. He quickly struck out Jeremy Rathjen and ended the sixth inning.

Nuss returned to the mound in the seventh inning and retired the Owls in order. Nuss was taken out in the eighth inning after he threw two wild pitches, which resulted in two runs by Rice.

RHP Matt Collins pitched the last 1.1 innings. He allowed two hits and another two runs.

“The story of the day in the area that we need to improve in is that we walked 15 batters and hit three. That goes against everything we talk about from a pitching standpoint,” Rooney later continued.

Rooney said after the game he hasn’t made up his mind on who will be the starting pitcher tomorrow. Rice’s head coach Wayne Graham said John Simms will be the starting pitcher for Game 3.

Alex Friedrich’s bases loaded 3-run double gave UCF an 8-0 lead in the fourth inning, before Rice surged back and scored six runs in the next inning. The Owls scored three runs in the fifth and left the bases loaded, before weather suspended the game until this afternoon. They picked up right where they left off and scored three more runs before reliever Roman Madrid could stop the bleeding.

Joe Rogers picked up his program-leading 29th career save, and conference-leading 12th of the season, with a six-out save to close the door on Rice.

With the win, UCF takes a one game lead over Rice in the conference standings, needing just one more win to clinch the C-USA.

Game two of the series will begin just after 7 p.m., and will feature a pair of sophomores starting for both teams.

Ben Lively is projected to start for UCF. Lively has a 2.97 era on the season, and his eight wins ranks first in the conference. Rice is expected to start Austin Kubitza, who is 5-3 on the season, with a 3.22 era.

Weather is expected to play a factor in Friday night’s game, just as it did for UCF the last three games. As of 6:30 p.m., the forecast calls for rain throughout a majority of the duration of the game.

The Knights took an 8-0 lead into the fifth before the Owls pushed across three runs just before play stopped for the night. With two outs and two runners on base for the Owls, play will resume Friday at 3 p.m.

UCF exploded for five runs in the third inning, as the Knights sent 10 batters to the plate in the frame. Darnell Sweeney opened up the scoring with a bases loaded 2-run double, which was followed by a Chris Taladay 2-run single.

Rice pitcher Matthew Reckling, one of the best pitchers in C-USA, was rocked in the third inning as he allowed seven consecutive Knights to reach base. He is currently on the hook for a loss.

LHP Chris Matulis started the game strong for UCF. Until he got himself into trouble in the fifth, Matulis only allowed one hit in the first four innings. He was relieved by Bryan Brown in the fifth after allowing three runs. Brown is not expected to continue pitching when the game is resumed tomorrow.

The re-scheduled first pitch is Friday at 3 p.m. and the game will resume with two outs in the top of the fifth inning. Game two is expected to start an hour after the conclusion of game one.

Federal voice analysts were unable to determine who was calling for help in the background of all six 911 calls placed by residents of the Twin Lake Apartment Complex, but statements from multiple witnesses claim that the voice belonged to a “young boy.”

“Voice comparison is not possible for the designated voices due to extreme stress and unsuitable audio quality,” the FBI digital evidence laboratory report reads.

Audio the 911 calls made my neighbors was compared to earlier calls made by Zimmerman and Martin, but several factors hindered an accurate comparison to be made, included the “extreme emotional state” of the person yelling for help, as well as the imposition of other voices.

Martin’s father, Tracy, listened to the tapes of the six emergency calls days after the death of his son. When asked if the voice yelling for help was that of his son, Trayvon, Martin replied, ‘No.’

Several witness statements describe hearing loud, argumentative voices that night, followed by cries for help and, eventually, a gunshot. One witness described the voice as belonging to a “young person,” and another said that the person screaming also sounded like a “young boy’s” voice.

The probable cause affidavit prepared by the state declares the voice to be Zimmerman’s, but also states that “the initial harmful event has no witnesses.”

Eyewitness statements describe a man in a red shirt, later identified as Zimmerman, being straddled by another man and repeatedly hit, as the person calling out for help. One witness statement described a person throwing punches “MMA style” while sitting on top of a person in a red shirt who was calling for help.

The witness then stated that as he went to call 911, he heard a “pop,” indicative of a gunshot. When he returned to the window to survey the scene, he saw the man in the red shirt (Zimmerman) standing over Martin, who was facedown in the grass.

Nearly every witness statement confirmed this version of events, and appear consistent with the physical injuries sustained by the two men. Hospital records show that Zimmerman suffered a fractured nose and an “open wound of the scalp,” indicative of assault.

Officer Timothy Smith, one of the first to respond to the scene, observed Zimmerman’s bloody nose and head, as well as evidence that indicated Zimmerman had been on the ground at some point.

“I could observe that his back appeared to be wet and was covered with grass, as if he had been laying on his back on the ground,” Smith’s report stated.

Martin, meanwhile, was found facedown on the ground with his hands under him by officer Ricardo Ayala. Officer Anthony Raimondo attempted CPR on Martin when Martin did not respond to verbal statements by Ayala.

Upon hearing “bubbling sounds” while conducting CPR, Raimondo lifted Martin’s shirt and noticed a gunshot wound to the chest. No exit wound was found on Martin’s back.

The autopsy performed on Martin indicated that he was shot from a close distance, between 1-18 inches away. It also revealed an abrasion on Martin’s finger, somewhat suggestive of a struggle. Toxicology reports from the autopsy found marijuana in Martin’s system at the time of the shooting.

Martin was in Sanford following a 10-day suspension from school for being caught with an empty plastic bag which had previously contained marijuana.

The probable cause affidavit also stated that “the encounter between George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin was ultimately avoidable by Zimmerman, if Zimmerman had remained in his vehicle and awaited the arrival of law enforcement, or conversely if he had identified himself to Martin as a concerned citizen and initiated dialog in an effort to dispel each party’s concern.”

In what most are considering to be the biggest game in UCF athletics history, both the Knights and Owls sit atop the C-USA standings with 15 conference wins each.

“It’s exciting. I’m excited for the kids,” head coach Terry Rooney said. “When you look at the beginning of the year, Rice and UCF were picked one-two, and you can’t ask for anything more.”

Rice has won all but one C-USA regular season championships since joining the conference in 2006, and with two wins this weekend, UCF can do what only the 2009 East Carolina team has done – win the regular season.

Though the Owls were favored to win the conference entering the season, Rice head Coach Wayne Graham expected UCF to be fighting for the championship at the end of the season.

“I thought UCF would be the team to beat in the conference,” said Graham. “I thought clearly they had the best experienced talent along with ourselves and East Carolina.”

The game tonight is scheduled for a 6:30 first pitch, though weather may play a factor as it did in the cancellation of the series finale against Stetson on Tuesday .

RHP Matthew Reckling will toss the first pitches for Rice. The Houston native is 8-1 on the season with a 2.40 era. He ranks second in the conference with 90 strikeouts, and his eight wins is tied for the conference lead with UCF pitcher Ben Lively.

“When you look at them on paper they’re well balanced, but they’ve always had great pitching,” said Rooney. “When you look at where they are this year, that certainly holds true. They have a great collection of arms.”

Starting Thursday night for UCF is LHP Chris Matulis. The southpaw has been bumped in and out of the weekend rotation all season, but has improved greatly his last few starts, earning the first spot in this weekend’s rotation. Matulis is 6-0 on the season with a 2.73 era.

Graham seemingly praised Matulis Wednesday night, as he told the Valencia Voice that his team will need to learn how to “cope with the three good pitches (Matulis) can throw for strikes,” but later told the Houston Chronicle there is a strong possibility UCF won’t be able to handle his hitters because “they don’t have anybody that can really shut us down. ”

These comments have only fueled the animosity and anticipation this series already brought with it.

Dr. Michio Kaku, the theoretical physicist famed as much for his appearances on BBC, PBS, and the Discovery Channel as for his work with colleagues such as cosmologist Stephen Hawking, spoke Wednesday at the East Campus of Valencia College.

Every seat in the auditorium was filled when Kaku took the stage to speak about how science and technology are revolutionizing medicine, economics, and even dating. The large crowd laughed as Kaku joked about Madonna, internet porn and smart toilets of the future, which will be able to detect cancer 20 years before tumors form. When the presentation ended, students rushed to form a line that stretched out and around two buildings, all for the chance to have Kaku sign a book and pose for a picture.

“He’s a brilliant physicist and it’s surreal to see him on television and, all of a sudden, he’s at my school,” said Karen Solla, a theatre major, who stood in line for an hour to see Kaku. “The video that he showed about the future in regards to medicine was so cool. I’m hoping that those methods will be here in my lifetime so we can get less invasive treatment.”

Zachary Blumer, a high school student from Timber Creek, skipped school for the day to hear Kaku speak. “Technology has changed so many things,” Blumer said. “We have to think outside the box now to prepare for a future.”

Blumer, 16,  hopes to be a physics major in college. He thought he could learn more from hearing Kaku speak for an hour than spending a whole day in class. His mother, who brought him to the event, agreed.

“As a mom, my kids are going to be going into physics,” Theresa Blumer said. “It’s exciting to think that he has such potential to impact the world.”

Kaku is known for his work as the co-founder of string theory and other work in quantum and theoretical physics, subjects too complex for much of the general public to comprehend. His latest work, however, was to interview over 300 of the world’s top scientists for his book, “Physics of the Future.”

The men and women that Kaku interviewed are researching topics that have implications in daily life, from wired contacts that let you go online with the blink of an eye, to replacement organs grown from your body’s own tissue in a matter of weeks. These innovations, and others, are being used to improve all aspects of life.

Evidence that technology is improving life is evident by looking at the spread of democracy via the growth of the Internet and social media, Kaku explained.

“No two democracies have ever warred in history,” Kaku said. “As the Internet spreads democracy, it reduces the fires of war.”

“Many of the world’s ills are created by inequality,” Kaku said. “In 100 years time, we may finally see a planetary society without war because democracy is everywhere and we will be in an era of plenty.”