ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – With six games left in American Athletic Conference play, the UCF baseball team will hit the road for the final time in league play for a three-game series this weekend at Tulane.
Scott Adams will have the call on FM96.9/AM740 The Game for all three contests, starting Friday night at 7:30 p.m. (ET), Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.
UCF improved to 11-1 in midweek games on Tuesday night with an extra-inning win over North Florida. The Knights rallied to tie the game in the top of the ninth, before a four-run 11th inning sealed a 9-7 win on the road. Dallas Beaver drove in a trio of runs on a 3-for-5 night to lead the way offensively.
UCF retook the conference lead for stolen bases last weekend against Memphis. The Knights now have 77 swipes on the year to rank 27th in the nation. Matthew Mika moved into a tie for third in program history with 80 career steals. The senior leads the team with 24 bags this season.
THE WEEKEND ROTATION
For the first time since the opening weekend of conference play, the Knights will enter the weekend with a complete starting rotation. Grant Schuermann will continue his streak as the only Knight to appear in every weekend pitching group. Chris Williams, who matched a season-high with eight strikeouts last weekend against Memphis will get the ball on Saturday. Righty Jordan Spicer will make his 11th start of the year on Sunday and just his fourth weekend outing.
SCOUTING TULANE
• The Green Wave has dropped four of its last five outings and hold a record of 27-17 on the year with a 9-5 mark in The American, good for second.
• Tulane boasts one of the top offenses in the nation, ranking second in doubles, 10th in hits, second in home runs, seventh in runs scored and third in slugging percentage.
• Kody Hoese is one of the top candidates for The American Player of the Year, as he leads the league in batting average, doubles, hits, home runs, on-base percentage, runs, RBI, slugging percentage and total bases.
GAME 1 – Friday, May 3, 7:30 PM | Live Stats | Watch | FM96.9/AM740 The Game
Grant Schuermann, LHP (5-4, 3.59 ERA) vs. Kaleb Roper, RHP (5-4, 4.99 ERA)
GAME 2 – Saturday, May 4, 7:30 PM | Live Stats | Watch | FM96.9/AM740 The Game
Chris Williams, RHP (4-4, 5.71 ERA) vs. TBA
GAME 3 – Sunday, May 5, 2 PM | Live Stats | Watch | FM96.9/AM740 The Game
Jordan Spicer (2-0, 4.07 ERA) vs. TBA
NOTES
• The all-time series is tied at 23-23 entering the weekend.
• UCF has won five of the last six meetings.
• Chris Williams is seventh in the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio and 10th in walks allowed per nine innings.
• Garrett Westberg has cracked the top 25 nationally with 24 pitching appearances.
• Hitting above .400 over the last 15 games, Dallas Beaver has move dinto a tie for the team lead with a .331 batting average.
• No strangers to small ball, the Knights have 19 bunt singles this season and 32 sacrifice bunts, which ranks 24th in the nation.
• With a win in the series opener against Memphis, head coach Greg Lovelady became the fastest coach to 100 wins in program history.
• The Knights are 14-0 this year when holding opponents to two runs or fewer and are 59-2 in such games in the Lovelady era.
• Williams regained the team lead with 53 strikeouts on the year, one ahead of Jeffrey Hakanson, who has 52 over 26 2/3 innings of work.
• Offensively, the Knights have attacked starting pitchers, who have a combined 5.72 ERA and a record of 6-17 against the Black and Gold.
CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE GAME NOTES
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