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Opening Knight is almost here!
UCF's 2022 baseball season officially gets underway next Friday when the Knights play host to Siena for a three-game tilt Feb. 18-20. Other highlights from the non-conference slate include a home series against Ole Miss (March 4-6), two games against Miami (March 16 at UCF, May 11 at UM) and a two-game set at Florida State (March 22-23). American Athletic Conference play begins April 1 at home against South Florida.
A season ago, UCF just missed on the NCAA Tournament by falling in the AAC Championship Game to South Florida. Prior to the COVID shutdown of 2020, the Knights were 15-3 and nationally ranked.
This will be
Greg Lovelady's sixth season in Orlando. Here's a recap of our 18-minute conversation.
-Lovelady is excited about this group. He's proud of his staff in getting the team prepared. The new kids have been a "breath of fresh air." The talent level is there. "It's been a fun group of kids to work with. I'm excited to see them compete."
-On
John Rhys Plumlee and his recruitment, Lovelady and UCF faced Ole Miss last season so they knew who he was. Called him a "super athletic kid."
Lovelady: "He's been awesome. The things that people said about him, 'The one thing I can guarantee you is he'll make your team better just by being around.' From day one, you would have thought he was here all year. He's a super energetic personality. Fit right in with our guys. Again, if you walked out there right now, it doesn't seem like he's a new kid. Seems like he's been here all fall with us. He fit right in and has been working hard."
They should get an answer on Plumlee's waiver request in the next 24-48 hours. He was past the deadline for immediate eligibility for baseball season, but has asked the NCAA to reconsider due to extenuating circumstances of being a football player.
Plumlee is "very fast, can play defense, has really good bat speed." Said it's challenging because JRP doesn't get the swings year-round because of his football responsibilities, so they'll do what they can to get him game ready. He's improved a lot in two weeks. "He's done a great job of trying to play catch up."
-The players we interviewed prior to Lovelady prominently name-dropped
Connor Staine, a RHP transfer from Maryland. Lovelady also raved about him.
"It's been unbelievable. He's probably the most talented we've ever had here, since I've been here, in terms of stuff. Obviously doesn't have the experience some of the other guys have, but he's been 92-97 with four pitches that are all plus pitches. He's got a great body. He's been awesome for us in terms of team culture to his work ethic. Really buying into the things we believe in, the mental game. It's just continuing to grow.
"The video you watched last year (pitching at Maryland), there were some days he would be up to 93, some days he was 88. I think he was 88-90, he started against ECU in the regional, trying to come out of the loser's bracket, trying to beat them twice. His stuff was just okay. He really built some confidence in the Cape (Cod League). He's continue to up every outing. In the fall, he was 92-93, 93-94, 95-96. During the offseason he's done a great job keeping all that work. Right out of the gate he's had plus-stuff. It'll be interesting to see how he handles the grind of the season. We've got to take care of him. I don't want him to get up to 110 innings. I think the most innings he's ever thrown was 30 or something like that. We've got to be careful with that. How his body reacts to that. He's worked really hard. He's in great shape. He's got a professional body. I'm really excited. He steps right in and looks like he's going to be in the rotation. A legit arm in this league, a legit arm in the country. I'm expecting big things out of him this year."
-Five guys are competing for three weekend rotation spots between
Connor Staine (Maryland transfer),
David Litchfield,
Hunter Patteson,
Ben Vespi and
Will Saxton (FIU transfer).
"I feel comfortable about the rotation and excited about it, what we can do."
-Lovelady spoke about the depth and parity in the AAC. UCF was predicted to finish in fifth by league's coaches, which should be a motivation. You need to be self-motivated to win a championship though.
-He believes the strengths of the team should be offensively, saying they went from 650 career at-bats on Opening Day last year to 3,800 career at-bats going into this season. They'll need guys to step up to replace
Jordan Rathbone and
Josh Crouch's production, but they didn't really expect their production either.
Gephry Pena,
Alex Freeland,
Tom Josten,
Ben McCabe and
Nick Romano, they've got to step up. He thinks the depth and experience overall will be a benefit.
-Looking at the field, he said there are battles but it's really more an issue of where guys play.
Ben McCabe can play first base, catch and DH.
Riley Wash (Pittsburgh transfer) has done a great job at catcher.
Nick Romano has been playing well as has
Tom Josten.
Michael Brooks (Arkansas transfer) has been good.
Gephry Pena and
Pablo Ruiz are experienced.
Trent Taylor, a sixth-year transfer, has done some good things offensively and could be a starter.
Lex Boedicker and
Cole Russo are two freshmen that could play. Russo can play catcher and first base.
"Most of it is figuring out where guys should play and the matchups. I think we'll see a bunch of different lineups the first 6-8 games of the season and then see where we're at, see how guys handle it and go from there."
-Injuries: 3B
Andrew Brait had shoulder surgery in his non-throwing arm following the fall and is currently out, but should be back at some point during the season. Freshman RHP
Kris Sosnowski is out for year (elbow). RHP
Zack Bennett is also out for the year, which is a big blow because he was a possible set-up guy or closer. RHP
Nolan Lepkoske might be able to return later in the season.
-The new video board was just erected a few days ago with the finishing touches being implemented to have it ready in the next few days.
Lovelady: "I'm appreciative to Terry (Mohajir). He's put a lot of money into the field, the sound system, the new video board, the turf around foul territory and we re-did the dugouts. The field really looks nice. They've done a really god job upgrading a bunch of things from a looks standpoint, from a cleanliness standpoint and fan experience standpoint. We're excited for everyone to be here, enjoy the new sound system and video board which is a huge upgrade and something we obviously drastically needed."
Baseball 2025
ucfknights.com
Baseball 2025
ucfknights.com