After posting a 40-22 record last season with an American Athletic Conference regular season title on its belt, the UCF Baseball team was picked by Baseball American to start the season ranked No. 22 in the country.
Led by last year’s AAC Coach of the Year Greg Lovelady, first baseman Rylan Thomas and pitcher Joe Sheridan, the Knights are set up for another big year. The recent ranking is the first time the Knights have received a Baseball America preseason ranking since 2015 when they were also ranked No. 22.
The Knights will feature a deep pitching staff made up of players such as Sheridan, Bryce Tucker, Chris Williams, Cre Finfrock, Jordan Spicer and JJ Montgomery.
On offense, the Knights will be led by the big bats of Thomas, Matthew Mika and Tyler Osik. Osik is just one of many new faces on the team brought in to replace 20 players from the 2017 squad.
The season starts for UCF on Feb. 16 against Virginia at John Euliano Park. The Knights will also face Rice and Samford in a three-game tournament before heading on the road for one game against Stetson.
