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Future UCF Athletics Hall of Famers: Baseball

We pick the seven most deserving UCF Baseball alumni who should be in the UCF Athletics Hall of Fame

Kansas City Royals Photo Day
Drew Butera as a Kansas City Royal.
Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

With UCF announcing it is taking nominations for the UCF Athletics Hall of Fame for 2019, we’re continuing our Future UCF Hall of Famers series with a look at Baseball.

UCF Knights Baseball has a phenomenal tradition - maybe the best of any UCF sport - and they honor it as well as any sport on campus too. Baseball has Knights of Honor, where they honors players who have been selected in the first five rounds of the draft, named as an All-American or contributed to postseason success as Knights.

A total of 40 players have been recognized (the guys in bold are UCF Athletics Hall-of-Famers):

  • Brian Ahern (1987-1989)
  • Jason Arnold (1998-2001)
  • Jason Bahr (2014-2017)
  • Tim Barker(1984-1985)
  • Tim Bascom (2004-2006)
  • Ryan Bear (2002-2003)
  • Mike Billek (2003-2005)
  • Kyle Bono (2003-2004)
  • Matt Bowser (1998-2000)
  • Dee Brown (2002-2005)
  • Shane Brown (2007-2010)
  • Drew Butera (2003-2005)
  • Chris Duffy (2007-2010)
  • Chad Ehrnsberger (2001)
  • Tim Foskett (1980-1983)
  • Matt Fox (2002-2004)
  • Kevin Gordon (1997-1998)
  • Mike Halperin (1992-1994)
  • D.J. Hicks (2009, 2011-2012)
  • Jeremy Kurella (2001)
  • Ben Lively (2011-2013)
  • Matt Lubozynski (1995-1998)
  • Roman Madrid (2012)
  • Mike Maroth (1996-1998)
  • Taylor Meier (2004, 2006-2007)
  • Dylan Moore (2014-2015)
  • Chad Mottola (1990-1992)
  • Justin Pope (1999-2001)
  • Ronnie Richardson (2010-2012)
  • Zach Rodgers (2014-2015)
  • Joe Rogers (2011-2012)
  • Eric Riggs (1996-1998)
  • Eric Skoglund (2012-2014)
  • Sam Swanger (1976)
  • Darnell Sweeney (2010-2012)
  • Chris Taladay (2010-2013)
  • Beau Taylor (2009-2011)
  • Clay Timpner (2002-2004)
  • Jay Veniard (1993-1995)
  • Joe Wagner (1992-1993)

All the guys on this list, who had great careers should be considered for the UCF Athletics Hall of Fame. But here would be my choices, as I’m picking UCF players from 2004-present as I did not see UCF players prior to 2000:

Clay Timpner (2002-2004)

San Francisco Giants Photo Day
Clay Timpner as a San Francisco Giant in 2005.
Photo by Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images
  • 8th at UCF All-time in Batting Avg (.360)
  • Tied for 10th in runs scored (152)
  • 9th in hits (241)

Drew Butera (2003-2005)

World Series - Kansas City Royals v New York Mets - Game Five
Drew Butera celebrates catching the final out of the Royals’ World Series victory in 2015.
Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images
  • Johnny Bench Award Finalist (2005),
  • Drafted in 5th round of 2005 MLB Draft.

Kyle Bono (2003-2004)

  • 2004 All-American, #1 all-time at UCF in ERA (1.66)
  • Tied for #1 all-time in shutouts (5)

Matt Fox (2002-2004)

Seattle Mariners Photo Day
Matt Fox as a Seattle Mariner.

2004 All-American, A-SUN pitcher of Year (2004), Tied for 3rd all-time in shutouts (3),

Shane Brown (2007-2010)

2010 All-American, 6th all-time at UCF in Batting AVG (.363), Tied for 10th in runs scored (152), 8th in hits (251), 10th in HR (25) and RBI (148),

Chris Duffy (2007-2010)

2010 All-American, Golden Spikes Award Finalist (2010), 10th all-time in hits (235), All-time leader in HR (43).

D.J. Hicks (2009,2011-2012)

  • Only UCF 2-time All-American (2011,2012) in program history in the D1 era.
  • 5th all-time in HR (36), 6th in RBI (173), 7th in walks (113),

Are we missing someone? Let us know below.