ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The UCF baseball team officially announced its 2017 schedule this week, with the home opener slated for Friday Feb. 17 against Siena at the UCF Baseball Complex.
The campaign includes 37 home matchups and features six games with USF as part of the War on I-4 rivalry series, including a three-game season finale at home.
In its first season under head coach Greg Lovelady, the team will face familiar conference opponents but also square off against the likes of Stony Brook, Central Michigan, Dartmouth, and Manhattan. The Black and Gold will also match up with in-state cohorts Florida, Florida State, Miami, FAU, North Florida, Jacksonville and Bethune-Cookman.
"I'm really excited about this season and the fact we have so many opportunities to play in front of our great fans and UCF students," Lovelady said. "It's going to be a lot of fun to have their support and I'm really excited to get to compete with this great group of student-athletes. The early part of the schedule should prepare us well for one the toughest conferences in the country but we still have a lot of work to do before the season opener."
The Knights finished 25-34 last season, going 8-13 in conference play but played above .500 finishing 17-13 at home. Senior infielder Austin Griffin said the team vowed to make a change after last season and started working to get better immediately, even before they knew about the changes in the coaching staff.
"We were disappointed so a big group of us stayed here last summer to train and a few guys went out to play summer ball" Griffin said. " There is a new attitude around here. Everyone has a great respect for coach Lovelady and the changes he has made. We can't wait to see what the new season will bring."
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