Cannonballs and a Two Seed: UCF Baseball celebrates NCAA Regional bid from Lake Pickett
UCF Baseball is heading to the Auburn Regional — and they made sure to celebrate in the most Orlando way possible.
The Knights (31-21, 19-11 Big 12) learned their NCAA Tournament fate during a Memorial Day Selection Show watch party at Lake Pickett, poolside at a property adjacent to the UCF boathouse, courtesy of head coach Rich Wallace’s uncle. When UCF’s name appeared on the ESPN broadcast as a No. 2 seed in the Auburn Regional, the reaction was exactly what you’d expect.
“Oh my gosh, man, the boys were so excited,” centerfielder DeAmez Ross said. “This is just what this team is, man. This team just loves to have fun. We love to play with each other. We did some cannonballs. We did some back flips in the lake. It was amazing.”
Wallace said the unconventional setting was intentional.
“We talked to the guys, we wanted to do something a little more UCF-ish,” Wallace said. “We’re in Orlando, might as well get out in the pool in the sunshine and enjoy this thing and do it a little different, do it the UCF way.”
Wallace admitted he kept his shoes on and managed to avoid getting tossed in — though just barely.
“I was afraid I was gonna get tossed in there, but I hid enough,” he said with a laugh. “The guys earned that celebration and glad we could provide that for them.”
Heading to Auburn
UCF will travel to Auburn, Alabama, for the NCAA Auburn Regional, which runs Friday, May 29 through Monday, June 1 at Plainsman Park. The Knights open Friday at 6 p.m. EST against No. 3 seed NC State (32-22, 14-16 ACC). Host and No. 1 seed Auburn — the No. 4 overall national seed — plays No. 4 seed Milwaukee (25-31, 14-10 Horizon League) in the opener at 1 p.m. EST. Milwaukee earned its automatic bid by winning the Horizon League tournament.
It marks just the second time in program history UCF has played an NCAA Regional outside the state of Florida, and the first time since 2001. Wallace was on that 2001 UCF team that traveled to South Carolina.
For the current roster, going out of state was a welcome change of scenery.
“We always go to FSU for regionals, so it was exciting to leave the state and go play ball outside,” Ross said.
Pitcher Camden Wicker shared the sentiment.
“Everybody was thinking, ‘Oh, we’re going to be at Florida State, we’re going to be at UF,'” Wicker said. “Seeing a little bit of change — that’s awesome. Something different.”
Wallace confirmed the road experience won’t be anything new for this group. The coaching staff intentionally scheduled road games in the fall and the Knights won four of five road series during the Big 12 regular season.
“We started building that in the fall. We didn’t play a home fall game, purposely went on the road,” Wallace said. “These guys have been road warriors the whole time. If you want to do what you want to do, you’re going to be on the road for another month here.”
Opening against NC State
UCF’s first obstacle is an NC State program that will be marking the end of an era this postseason. Longtime head coach Elliott Avent, who has led the Wolfpack for 30 seasons and guided them to three College World Series appearances, announced his retirement at season’s end. Associate head coach Chris Hart will take over.
Wallace has personal connections throughout NC State’s staff, and a particularly long history with Hart.
“Chris Hart, who’s going to be the new head coach very deservingly — we’ve got a 25-plus year relationship going back to playing high school baseball against each other,” Wallace said. “Their pitching coach, Clint Chrysler, is a Stetson grad. Very familiar with their staff and how they go about things. They’re very deserving of that spot. It’s a well-coached team, a very talented team. I’m excited to have a chance to compete against them.”
Ross, who began his college career in the ACC at Florida State, said the Knights will do their homework.
“They’re always pretty good,” Ross said of the Wolfpack. “We’re going to do some research tonight, do some scouting and see how it goes.”
Wallace said the focus heading into the regional is simple: let the starting pitching work deeper into games and let the offense find its ceiling.
“The starting pitching has got to get us into the game so we don’t have to use that bullpen as early and as often as we’ve had for the last couple of weeks,” he said. “The offense has got to play to its potential. It’s a very hitter-friendly park. It’s not John Euliano Park. There’s some opportunities to drive the baseball.”
Health Update
The Knights enter the regional cautiously optimistic on the health front after a season plagued by pitching injuries.
“I think Mateo Gray’s obviously healthier now than he was a week and a half ago,” Wallace said. “Not pitching in that Big 12 tournament kind of helped that.
“We will inter-squad tomorrow night, and Alan Soler and Matt Sauser will both pitch in that just a little bit to make sure they pass the last test to pitch in the regional.
“So, it looks like we’re healthier than we were two weeks ago, which is nice to see.”
Sauser’s return and a refreshed Gray would do wonders for UCF’s pitching depth. Soler is a true freshman that was recently cleared to play.
Wicker, who has emerged as UCF’s ace, said the staff’s resilience through the adversity has been a defining trait of this team.
“We’ve had a lot of injuries on the pitching side and we’ve had a lot of freshmen and other guys that maybe didn’t have that big role to start the year, but they’ve stepped up,” Wicker said. “Guys like Max Murray producing huge roles for us and coming in in big-time spots. Couldn’t be more excited for where we’re heading.”
UCF among six Big 12 teams in Regionals
UCF is one of six Big 12 teams in the NCAA Tournament field. Kansas and West Virginia earned No. 1 seeds and will host regionals, while Oklahoma State and Cincinnati joined UCF as No. 2 seeds. Arizona State came in as a No. 3 seed. TCU missed the cut and was among the first four teams left out.
“I thought TCU should have been in. That’s a top-64 team,” Wallace said. “But those are two very deserving teams at Kansas and West Virginia. Those are going to be awesome environments. It’s great for our league. Hopefully we’ll see them all in the next round as well.”
For Wallace, this group earning a two seed validated the difficulty of what they took on this season.
“We played the toughest schedule in program history. Most conference wins since 2005 and won seven out of 10 Big 12 series,” he said. “I thought with our league, as good as it has been, and the two host seeds, that we should be in line for a two seed.”
Through injuries that decimated the rotation, cost them one of their closers, and wiped out their best left-handed reliever before the season even started, the Knights kept playing — and kept winning.
“I’ve coached teams that have had half as many injuries as we have battled through that have tanked,” Wallace said. “This group, they fought and they fought and they fought to keep playing. You could see it in their eyes. They felt like, ‘Okay, now we got a shot. We can kind of start this thing over.’ They deserve that celebration. Absolutely.”
Ross, a two-year captain who helped lead UCF through every setback, said the team’s motto captures it perfectly.
“We have a saying — attitude of gratitude,” Ross said. “We’re just grateful to put on this jersey and play with each other again. We have so much fun at practice, so we’re going to keep playing as long as we can because we just love each other. We’re brothers, man, for life.”
UCF’s first pitch against NC State is scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m. EST.
NCAA Regional Selection Press Conference
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