ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The No. 27 UCF baseball team is headed to Tampa for its edition of the War On I-4 this weekend. The Knights will play three games on the road against No. 26 South Florida, before hosting the Bulls in the final series of the season at the UCF Baseball Complex May 18-20.
The 23-7 Knights opened up American Athletic Conference play last weekend, beating then-No. 11 Houston two out of three games while the 24-5 Bulls dropped two out of three games to Tulane. UCF currently leads the War On I-4 rivalry series 36-15, having taken the points in each of the last five meetings in basketball (men's and women's), track and field, and tennis.
The Black and Gold enter the weekend with the country's second-best team-ERA of 2.23. Knights' relievers had thrown 25.2 scoreless innings prior to Stetson notching a run in the eighth inning of Wednesday's game.
Knights' hurlers are also 10th in the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 3.40. All told, UCF pitchers have struck out 275 hitters while walking just 81.
Friday night starter Robby Howell has sat down 39 hitters this season, while Saturday starter Juan Pimentel leads the team with a 1.76 ERA. Freshman lefty Joe Sheridan, who picked up his fifth win and first-career conference victory last weekend against Houston, is scheduled to start Sunday.
At the plate, UCF is hitting a combined .290, led by center fielder Luke Hamblin hitting .347. The Knights have hit the long ball 25 times including six by first baseman Rylan Thomas. Thomas also leads the team with 30 RBIs and is slugging a team-best .587.
The Knights have also put pressure on opponents on the base paths this season, averaging 1.93 stolen bases per game. The team is taken 58 bases thus far, the sixth most in NCAA Division I. Second baseman Matthew Mika leads his squad, stealing 14-16 on the year.
First pitch Friday is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the USF Baseball Stadium. Saturday is also slated for 6:30 p.m. with Sunday's series finale set for 2 p.m. The rivalry will be broadcast on iHeart Radio and FM 96.9 The Game, with the voice of the Knights, Marc Daniels on the call. Fans can also click here to follow along via live stats.
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