UCF Baseball is Tallahassee bound.
The regular season champions of the American Athletic Conference earned a No. 2 regional seed in the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship and a first-round date with No. 3 Auburn (35-24) Friday at 12 noon in a game that will be played at Dick Howser Stadium on the campus of Florida State University.
The No. 1-seeded host Seminoles (39-20) will play No. 4 Tennessee Tech (40-19) at 6 p.m.
The 40-20 Knights, led by first-year head coach Greg Lovelady, will be appearing in their first regional since 2012.
"It's not easy to be an at-large bid in this business," Lovelady said. "I'm really proud of the kids. Just to be a two seed is a big deal. I'm really proud of these guys for all the hard work that they've put into this. This is one of the goals that we set out at the beginning of the year. For these seniors, guys that have never been to a regional, one of my big goals as a coach is to make sure that every single player that comes through our program gets this opportunity. These are the things they're going to talk about for the rest of their life. I'm just really happy and proud of the guys. These leaders, the older guys, really set out on a mission. To be able to do this is really cool.
"I didn't care where we went. The fact that we get in was all that mattered. In order to be the best, you've got to beat the best. If you want to go to Omaha, you've got to beat some of the best teams in the country no matter where you're at. Every regional is a challenge, even if people's records say otherwise. They won their conference tournament and got hot, they're hot for a reason. They're here for a reason. No team is an easy win. That's what you expect when you play for a chance to go to Omaha. We're excited. Looking forward to learning about the teams we're going to play."
For senior outfielder Luke Hamblin, playing in a regional was always the goal.
"I'm pretty excited," Hamblin said. "Whenever I came here to UCF this is what I wanted. It's everyone's dream to go to a regional. But that's not our first stop. We plan on going far in it. It's going to be awesome. For Lovelady to come here and for us to go from worst to first, it's pretty amazing what he's been able to do for us."
"I knew last year we had the talent. Knew the pitching, knew the guys we had. (Lovelady) came in and showed us what he could do and his track record. To be honest, in that first meeting I knew it was a strong possibility. Then we came out and we played the way we did, played together and here we are in this situation. It's pretty awesome."
Lovelady continues the streak of first-year UCF coaches reaching the postseason following football (Cure Bowl), men's basketball (NIT), women's basketball (WNIT) and men's tennis (NCAA Championships).
"I think it means a lot (to reach the postseason)," Lovelady said. "It will obviously help in recruiting to prove that we're on the right path and that we will be a force to be reckoned with not only in the state of Florida, but around the country. I think it comes back to the kids. You knew that this was going to happen at some point. You just hope for these kids. We talk about leaving a legacy and to start that path of growth to where we want to be on a national level. It just feels good to know those guys that started this really bought in, especially to me and Parker, and really bought into the new system. Really cared. Competed like crazy. Whether we went to a regional or not, our program is way better than it was 10 months ago. But for them to get the reward of being able to know that they were the first group to start this and they get to go to a regional and experience what it's like, I think it's a big deal for those guys."
UCF may face Auburn's Keegan Thompson, who was the Tigers' typical Friday starter.
Wade Rackley/AuburnSports.com
For most of the season, Auburn appeared to be well on their way to not only be a regional host, but a potential national seed until a late-season slide - a 3-10 record in the month of May - dropped the Tigers down to a No. 3 seed.
Lovelady is friends with Auburn assistant coach Brad Bohannon and had some cursory knowledge about the top of their rotation, but otherwise didn't know too much yet about their opening opponent.
"They've got a new coaching staff that's done a really good job," Lovelady said. "(Auburn head coach) Butch (Thompson) is a really, really good pitching coach. I know they've got two dudes on the mound. Keegan Thompson and (Casey) Mize. Mize had some issues and was out for a couple weeks, but I think he's back. Keegan missed some time early. Two legit SEC arms. Whoever we see, we know it's going to be a challenge. They've played some good baseball. I watched a couple of their games. They're going to be a well-rounded SEC team. It's going to be a good challenge for us. We've set ourselves up. With our conference (and playing) Florida, Florida State and Miami, we've played similar teams. We won't be unprepared. Go out there, relax, have fun, trust the things we've done and try to win the game."
Mize led Auburn with a 7-2 record and 1.93 ERA, a mark that was second in the SEC behind South Carolina's Clarke Schmidt, whose season ended prematurely to injury. Thompson was 6-4 with 2.43 ERA.
Friday's UCF-Auburn game will be nationally televised.
"Excited to play on ESPN2," Lovelady said. "Good national game, TV game. It'll be exciting for us to do that and have a lot of fun with it."
UCF is familiar with Florida State as the two teams typically play each other yearly. The Seminoles came down to Orlando in early March for a two-game midweek series, winning both 5-2 and 5-0.
"(Florida State is a) really good team," Lovelady said. "I thought they were one the better teams we faced all year. They kind of went through some midseason struggles there. (First baseman Drew) Mendoza wasn't playing when we were facing them. I thought it was one of the best offenses. They didn't swing at bad pitches. They made us attack the zone and did some damage on some decent pitches. We walked away thinking those guys were one of the better offenses. They went through some midseason struggles, but have been absolutely on fire the past couple weeks. Probably the hottest team in college baseball. Going to be a little bit of a different team and a bit of a challenge. In order to do great things, you've got to beat those types of teams."
Hamblin and the returning players played a two-games series in Tallahassee last season with the Seminoles taking both, a 7-2 decision and then a 5-4 victory in 11 innings.
"I had my first home run in my Division I career at Florida State," Hamblin said. "It will be awesome to go back. My cousin (Daniel Hamblin) played for Arkansas and played at Florida State a few years ago in a super regional. I have a couple buddies that played at Auburn. It's going to be cool, a fun matchup. Good teams. It's going to be great competition."
Tennessee Tech were the regular season and tournament champions of the Ohio Valley Conference and will be making their first regional appearance since 2009.
Tournament Schedule
Friday, June 2
Game 1 – UCF vs. Auburn – 12 p.m.
Game 2 – Florida State vs. Tennessee Tech – 6 p.m.
Saturday, June 3
Game 3 – Game 1 & Game 2 losers – 12 p.m.
Game 4 – Game 1 & Game 2 winners – 7 p.m.
Sunday, June 4
Game 5 – Game 3 winner & Game 4 loser – 1 p.m.
Game 6 – Game 4 winner & Game 5 winner – 7 p.m.
Monday, June 5
Game 7 - If necessary – 7 p.m.
