The UCF Knights baseball team will be the final program to compete in an American Athletic Conference Tournament before moving on to the Big 12.

It’s a program seeking its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2017 after their previous three attempts were derailed by either the pandemic or the injury bug.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Knights for 2023.

---

Last Season

35-25 (14-10 AAC), Lost in AAC Tournament Semifinal

UCF showed promise with an early-season series victory on the road against eventual national seed Georgia Southern and getting one on eventual national champion Ole Miss. However, injuries to starting pitchers Connor Staine and Hunter Patteson led to series losses to UNC Greensboro and Samford, putting a damper on the Knights’ chances for an at-large bid.

Staine was able to return for the Knights later in the season and pitch into the AAC Tournament. With his help, UCF rebounded from an opening-game loss to advance to the semifinal against Houston. Thanks to a walk-off RBI double in the 10th inning, the Knights forced a 2nd game but were ultimately eliminated by the Cougars.

---

This Season

Picked 3rd in The American’s preseason coaches poll

While East Carolina takes all the 1st-place votes (aside from its own), Houston and UCF come in neck-and-neck for the coaches’ pick to finish runner-up in the conference.

The AAC Baseball Tournament in Clearwater will be the Knights’ last chance for an American Athletic Conference title before moving on to the Big 12 on July 1.

---

Who’s in Charge

Greg Lovelady - 7th Season with UCF

Noah Goldberg

Discounting the shortened 2020 season, Greg Lovelady has yet to turn in a sub-30-win season in his UCF career. It is a type of consistency that the Knights program has not seen since the ASUN era.

Entering his 7th season at the helm, Lovelady is primed to earn the 200th win of his tenure, a mark only Jay Bergman and Terry Rooney have reached.

However, despite the consistency, Lovelady has not had an NCAA Tournament appearance to show for his efforts since his debut season in 2017 and despite making it to the semifinal or further in 4 of 5 AAC Tournaments, he does not have an American Athletic Conference Tournament title either. 2023 will be his last chance to get one.

Listen to Eric Lopez and Bryson Turner preview the team with Lovelady below:

---

What to Watch for

Player Health

For the past two seasons, any positive momentum that Knights were able to carry with them from their 15-3 start in 2020 before the world shut down was squandered by the injury bug infecting key players.

In 2021, it got ace pitcher Colton Gordon and power hitter Nick Romano. In 2022, it hit the team even harder, most notably affecting Connor Staine, Hunter Patteson, and Romano (again), and those three were the tip of the iceberg.

If the Knights want to unseat ECU in The American or at the very least get an at-large bid to the tournament, they need to stay healthy and avoid long-term injuries.

New Pitching Coach

Someone that might be able to help the team with that is new pitching coach Mike Maroth, who arrives at UCF after seven seasons with the Atlanta Braves.

Alongside his experience working with MLB talents like Kyle Wright, Huascar Ynoa, and more, Maroth also served as the franchise’s minor-league rehab pitching coordinator. For a team that’s been struggling with the injury bug, this kind of expertise could be just what the doctor ordered.

Oh, and has it been mentioned he played for UCF from 1996-1998?

John Rhys Plumlee

After spending all of last season having to sit in the dugout due to transfer rules, John Rhys Plumlee can now make his official UCF Baseball debut in 2023.

Just like on the gridiron, Plumlee’s game-changing ability comes with his legs. Back during his 2021 season at Ole Miss, he had the 3rd-most stolen bases on the team, getting 7 on 9 attempts.

---

Players to Watch

Ben Vespi

While he started his collegiate career as a relief pitcher, Ben Vespi ended up being pushed to start in 2022 thanks to injuries in the rotation. He turned that into 9 starting opportunities, ultimately finishing the season leading the team in innings pitched, strikeouts, and wins on his way to an All-AAC 1st Team selection.

Kyle Kramer

In his first season after transferring from Rollins College, Kramer took up the Knights’ closer position to bring home six saves.

Kramer was named alongside Vespi to the AAC’s Preseason All-Conference Team.

Ben McCabe

Greg Lovelady said that an arm injury limited McCabe’s ability to throw last season. However, that did not stop him from stepping into the batter’s box and blasting 14 home runs and 54 RBIs to lead the team.

Now, one surgery later, McCabe not only returns to the batter’s box but behind the plate as well. D1Baseball ranked him as the 21st-best catcher in the country.

---

Who’s New That’s Good

Cameron Leiter

He is the next in line of a family of ball players. Leiter’s father, Kurt, reached as high as the Double-A level with the Baltimore Orioles, while his uncles, Al and Mark, had lengthy MLB careers.

Leiter saw action in both of UCF’s fall ball games, including pitching three shutout innings in one on Nov. 4.

Plus, D1Baseball has him as the preseason favorite for the AAC’s Freshman of the Year. With a starting rotation that is looking at major turnover aside from Ben Vespi, Leiter seems poised to take up a spot in that rotation right away.

---

Who We’ll Miss

Gephry Pena

The Knights lost an offensive juggernaut in Gephry Pena over the offseason. In 2022, he had the most hits in a single season since 2011, stole over 20+ bases for the second consecutive season, and set a new program record for career stolen-base percentage (.943).

Can the Knights find another player with the speed to match Pena’s? Time will tell.

He also hit a .339 batting average on a team-leading 242 at-bats.

Alex Freeland

Had he not missed several games due to injury, Freeland could have contended for the team’s home run leader with Ben McCabe. By the end of 2022, Freeland finished with 11 home runs and a .282 batting average.

His efforts got noticed by the Los Angeles Dodgers, who drafted him in the 3rd round of the MLB Draft. Freeland skipped the Rookie level entirely to join the Dodgers’ Single-A affiliate, the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, in the latter part of 2022. He played in 8 games, hit a .313 batting average, and hit 3 home runs.

Connor Staine

He only spent one season with the Knights, but he quickly established himself as the team’s de facto ace with a no-hit appearance against Georgia Southern and a 10-strikeout duel against Ole Miss. However, after the UNC Greensboro series, in which he got injured, Staine only made one appearance longer than 4 innings the rest of the season.

Despite the injury, Staine’s skillset was noticed by the Colorado Rockies, who took him in the 5th round of the MLB Draft. According to MiLB.com, Staine was assigned to the Rockies’ rookie-level ACL Rockies on Aug. 11, 2022.

Hunter Patteson

Hunter Patteson was a lot like Staine in 2022, the only difference being Patteson was building off a 2021 season where he emerged late in the year to become the Knights’ ace in the AAC Tournament. He started off strong, highlighted by a 7-inning, 2-hit, 10-strikeout performance against Georgia Southern. Then, the UNC Greensboro series happened.

Patteson did return a couple of weeks later in conference play but only played in two games before he was knocked out once more. He would not return for the rest of the season. While he only saw 7 games and 29.2 innings of action, Patteson still finished with a 1.82 ERA and 41 strikeouts.

His talents were noticed by the Kansas City Royals, who selected Patteson in the 5th round of the MLB Draft. According to MiLB.com, Staine was assigned to the Royals’ rookie-level ACL Royals on Nov. 10, 2022.

---

Roster Breakdown

• 8 Seniors
• 8 Juniors
• 13 Sophomores
• 10 Freshmen
• 27 Floridians (6 Central Floridians)

---

Schedule Breakdown

AAC Tournament

Dates: May 23-28, 2023

Location: BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, Florida

Notes:

• Four of UCF’s opponents were national seeds in the 2022 NCAA Baseball Tournament (Maryland, Georgia Southern, Miami (FL), and East Carolina).
• Head Coach Greg Lovelady will face his former team, Wright State, on May 10.

---

The Last Time...

UCF made it to the NCAA Tournament: 2017. Not since Greg Lovelady’s 1st season on the job have the Knights seen an NCAA Tournament game. Discounting 2020, the Knights have been on a four-season NCAA Tournament drought, the same number of seasons it was between the program’s 2012 and 2017 regional appearances.

UCF won a conference tournament: 2002. It has been over two decades and two conferences ago (ASUN) since the Knights last tasted conference tournament glory. They came close in 2021 but lost in the championship game to USF.

---

Follow the Knights