ORLANDO – The 1989 UCF baseball team will be honored on the field for their historic season during Friday’s series opener against No. 18 Texas.
Under the direction of UCF’s winningest coach in program history—Jay Bergman (994-594-3 over 26 seasons), the 1989 Knights went on to earn the program’s inaugural NCAA Regional appearance as well as win the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament game. In all, UCF won more than 40 games that season, as it compiled an impressive 42-22 record.
An NCAA Division I Independent in 1989, the Black and Gold posted wins over the likes of Florida, Georgia Tech, Michigan, Pittsburgh, South Carolina, and Wisconsin. The team then earned an at-large bid to take part at the NCAA East Regional in Gainesville and UCF went 2-2 during its first NCAA Regional appearance by defeating Georgia Tech, 6-4, and Florida, 10-7, in its first two games.
A pair of Knights went on to be drafted that season, as right-handed pitcher Brian Ahern was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the fifth round and fellow RHP Richard Polak was taken by the New York Yankees in the 20th round.
Ahern started a program-record 19 games that year and tossed a school record 12 complete games. He also logged 142.2 innings pitched for another single-season program record. The right-hander compiled a 10-5 record to tie for sixth in the UCF record books for the most wins in a season while tallying a solid 2.27 ERA. Polak posted a 6-2 record with one save that season and a 2.26 ERA over 75.2 innings.
Bobby Kiser led the club offensively with eight homers, 12 doubles, 38 RBIs and 33 runs scored, while Randy Kotchman posted a .306 batting average.
The 1989 squad is slated to be recognized during the middle of the second inning on Friday night.