Opening Knight is just days away as UCF Baseball welcomes Siena to John Euliano Park this weekend for a three-game tilt.
Friday and Saturday's games will begin at 6 p.m., while Sunday's finale will get started at 1 p.m.
Greg Lovelady, who is entering his third season as the Knights' skipper, addressed the media on Tuesday afternoon.
The full transcript is below, but here is a Cliff's version:
-UCF announced earlier on Tuesday that grad transfer Grant Schuermann (Friday), JUCO newcomer Trevor Holloway (Saturday) and returnee Jordan Spicer (Sunday) will comprise the opening weekend rotation vs. Siena. No. 1 starter Chris Williams is suspended for the first two weekend series stemming from his participation in UCF's club baseball team as a freshman.
-Lovelady said Schuermann "earned" the right to be opening starter.
-Other pitchers name dropped for having a solid preseason were Jeff Hakanson, Kyle Kemp and Zack Helsel.
-The best hitter during the preseason was Pedro Castellano, a JUCO newcomer who was injured during the fall.
-Losing Rylan Thomas hurts, but Lovelady thinks the overall lineup can make up for it.
-He touched on the overall improvement of the schedule, which should help the RPI. UCF played too many lowly-rated teams in the non-conference last year. He also spoke about the overall strength of the American, how ECU should be the favorite.
-Joe Sheridan is slowly working his way back to a potential return. There's a chance he could return towards the middle to late portion of the season, but that's a decision that won't be made until his recovery phase is compete and just seeing how he's feeling and whether it's worth pitching him.
-Trevor Holloway didn't have as good of a preseason as he did in the fall, but he's got "Friday night stuff" and is coming off his best outing.
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Another season. Are you getting excited for Friday Opening Knight?
"Yeah. Very excited. Not only just not being able to play competitive for the last eight months, just intrasquads and stuff, it gets boring. The kids really struggle with it. This week though brings a different energy. We instrasquad yesterday, but it's game week now. The guys are looking forward to it. I challenged them, as excited as we all are for Friday, we still have three practices to go. We have to make sure we utilize these next couple days to get better and give great effort. Find a way to be the best team we can by Friday. But excited to see somebody else in the other dugout. Really get a gauge. I've joked around the last couple days that as the head coach I lose every intrasquad. If we pitch, I think we can't hit. If we hit, then I think we can't pitch. I'm never sure where we're at. To get somebody else in the other dugout and really get a gauge of where we're at as a team, I'm excited for that."
What have you learned these past few weeks? Have any players emerged this preseason?
"Grant Schuermann is going to start on Friday night. I think he came in a little out of shape in the fall. Just trying to get back to being 100 percent for him in terms of being in shape. Just a different pitcher these past couple weeks. Realy earned the start on Friday night. Jeff Hakanson again has continued to make strides. Kyle Kemp, who didn't pitch in the fall because of health wise, has really started to make some strides. So those guys really stepped up.
"Pedro Castellano has been our best hitter since we came back in January. He broke his hamate bone (wrist) halfway through the fall. So really before he got started, his fall was over so we never got a gauge on him. He's been our best hitter. He's going to hit in the top three or four of our lineup. A left-handed bat that we desperately needed and has really stepped up. He's been a welcome addition to the guys we already knew what we had."
Is Pedro a candidate to play the outfield or DH?
"DH or left field will probably be the two positions based on who is catching and all that, where we need to fit in the bat and who's on the mound. Just figure out every day who our best lineup is and where will need to fit him in there. He's been an infielder, but we've worked him in the outfielder the last three weeks with how well he's been hitting."
Did Grant Schuermann's experience as a grad transfer put him over the top to earn the Friday night start?
"He's earned it on the field. He's not a guy to light up the radar gun, but the pitchability and the ability to change speeds, pitch in and out. I think the fact pitching against our lineup, he wasn't scared at all. He pitched against Wichita last year. He's pitched against big clubs. Big Power Five teams. He knows what to expect. He knows how to handle his business. But definitely I think that maturity was able to kind of win the job. I don't know if I gave him the job just because of that, but I feel comfortable that he's a guy that's started on Friday night for a couple years."
Can this team make a run in the American?
"No doubt. Top to bottom, I think we're probably the best team we've had. I don't think we're as high at the high end as we were last year. Losing Rylan Thomas is tough, but I think one through nine we're going to be able to make up those numbers. Obviously having Tyler Osik and Dallas Beaver back for another year, Anthony George who didn't play last year, a guy like Pedro, Griffin Bernardo and Dalton Wingo, two freshmen who were two lost puppies and who now have the experience, maturity and understand the daily grind. We lost one guy, but we feel like we have eight back. Seven or eight back. I think one through nine we're going to be able to match the stuff that we lost from Rylan.
"Same thing on the mound. The two grad transfers and having Willy and Spicer back, gives us the experienced guys that we have, then the JUCO guys. Zack Helsel has been a huge part of our pen. Kyle Kemp. Hakanson has jumped like I said. Jack Sinclair has jumped. I think we have more options. I don't know if we have the experience and the talent that we did last year at the very top, but one through nine and one through 12 on the mound I think we're deeper and more experienced."
The schedule you put together serves a purpose to make a run?
"We want to put ourselves in a better RPI situation, but at the same time I want to challenge ourselves. When we get to the end of the year, I want to know we've been in tough situations. And early on in the year getting a gauge of where we're at. Being able to play a team like Auburn, probably a top 10 team. Really gives us a gauage of where are we at in our growth? Where are we deficient at and where are we good at? These are the types of teams you have to beat in a regional to go to a super regional. Hopefully we compete. As long as we compete and know we're in the games, that will bring us some confidence.
"Siena is going to be excited to be outside and they're going to bring the opening day energy. Then Jacksonville is going to be a top 50 RPI team. VCU has been to a super regional. They're always really good. Penn State. Obviously a Power Five opponent. We've got a really tough schedule. You throw in all the midweek games against Stetson, Florida, Florida State, Miami. Yale is always one of the top teams in the Ivy League. The challenge is difficult, but that's what's going to make us better. Playing teams that don't give us much of a challenge doesn't make us a better team. We've got to win some of these games though. It'll get us ready for the gauntlet of the American."
Have you broken down the American this year?
"There's a lot of turnover because of the draft. ECU brings back a ton of guys. They're head and shoulders above everybody else in terms of returners. Every year there's going to be some guy from a junior colege or a freshman. UConn will have a left-hander that was throwing 70 in high school and is now throwing 95. He was playing hockey and basketball and now he's full-time baseball and they'll develop him. You never know until those first few weekends to see where everybody is at. Who is standing out and who is new to those programs. The thing I've learned in two years is this is going to be a grind. One through nine in our league is going to be really tough. There's no off weekends. We better be able to show up every single week and you're going to beat two out of three, no matter who you're playing. It'll be difficult. Houston has got some guys back. UConn has got Mason Feole who will probably be the Pitcher of the Year. It's going to be another grind. We'll be one of the top three or four conferences in the country again."
You named the early rotation, but what will that competition be like when Chris Williams returns?
"It'll be fun. Healthy competition always breeds guys getting better. But it gives other guys opportunities to get experience. Whoever doesn't stay in the rotation, here's your parting gift of playing Miami and Florida State. It doesn't really matter, one through four. At this level, these midweek games are no joke. You're going to play just as good if not better competition in the midweek. That doesn't mean a demotion. You just move somewhere else in the rotation and you still have an opportunity to help us reach our goals. Those games are just as important. At Wright State, the midweek games were good, but we had to win our conference. The conference tournament was the only weekend that mattered. Here, every game matters. Every win matters. Every time you beat a Florida, Florida State, Stetson, Miami, Bethune-Cookman, Yale, those will be resume builders for the NCAA Tournament."
Beyond Tyler Osik, what players are you looking for in regards to offensive production?
Power wise, Dallas Beaver, Griffin Bernardo, Dalton Wingo. Those guys really have the power potential. Again, we want to be able to win different ways. We want to put ourselves in a place to score runs and that means we've got to get on base. We've got to steal bases. When the wind is howling in, we can't hope for home runs. We've got to find multiple ways. Ray Alejo and Matthew Mika are going to be table setters. Pedro like I said has done a tremendous job. Brandon Hernandez at the bottom of the lineup, he walked a ton last year. Had a great on-base percentage. His batting average wasn't as good as he'd like, but he's a year older. If he can continue to get on base and walk, and get some more timely hits, he's done a much better job of using the whole field this year. He was too pull-happy last year. I think all those guys have an ability to help us. We need them. When you lose Rylan, we'll need one through nine to be a lot deeper. Klosterman has done a great job of getting guys in here and developing the offense. Ted. Those two coaches have really done a tremendous job of preparing this offense. If'we've got to win 1-0, we can do it. If we have to win 12-11, we can do that as well and everything in between. I'm excited for this group of guys to get out there and compete."
Where is Joe Sheridan in his recovery process?
"He's thrown seven bullpens. This will be his fourth week throwing off the mound. He's throwing with intensity of 50, 60 percent. I think he's got four or five more weeks of the throwing program. That's probably the minimum he'll be out. As we get closer to that time frame, we'll have some sit downs, heart-to-hearts with him and his family. How he's feeling, where he's at, if he feels good or not, and whether it's worth a year of eligibility or whatnot. I'm not worried about it right now. It's four weeks away. I'll get more involved watching his bullpens with Nick (Otte) and try to figure out how much he can help us. Where he feels like he is and where we're at in the season and whether it's worth risking pitching him or not."
What are you expecting from Trevor Holloway in his start on Saturday?
"Just a guy that had a ton of success last year at Chipola. Helped them win a national championship. Got some D1 experience going to High Point (as a freshmen). Had a great fall. Hasn't been as sharp as he was in the fall. That was a six-week growth process. We've only been back three or four weeks. His best outing was this last one, so he's been getting better. He has Friday night stuff. Just got to be able to control the strike zone and the running game, be able to slow the game down. I expect big things out of him. He wouldn't be pitching on Saturday if we didn't think he had the ability or mindset to do it. He's very analytical. He's in the office all the time, trying to get better. Wanting to watch video and work on his pitches. I'm excited about his work ethic. I think it's going to show this weekend."
