ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – UCF announced the 2016 baseball schedule on Monday afternoon with the home opener set for Feb. 19 against Siena at the UCF Baseball Complex. The slate includes 30 home games including matchups against in-state foes Florida (Mar. 2) and Miami (Mar. 16).
Every year, head coach Terry Rooney and his staff put together a challenging slate. UCF faces 10 teams, totaling 27 games, that advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season – Bradley (Mar. 19), East Carolina (Mar. 19-21), Florida (Mar. 1-2), Florida State (Mar. 22-23), Florida Atlantic (Apr. 5, 26), Houston (Apr. 9-10), Miami (Mar. 16, Apr. 13), Rice (Mar. 4-6), South Florida (Apr. 15-17, 29-May 1) and Tulane (Mar. 22-24).
The Knights have 15 new faces on the team, including nine transfers looking to make an immediate impact. Senior Sam Tolleson and juniors Matt Diorio and Eugene Vazquez are set to lead the offense, while the pitching staff features sophomore Cre Finfrock and juniors Trent Thompson and Robby Howell.
For the fourth-straight season, the Knights open the campaign against Siena (Feb. 19-21) before hosting mid-week games with Bethune-Cookman (Feb. 23) and North Florida (Feb. 24). UCF heads to the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Tournament (Feb. 26-28), facing the host Islanders, Texas State and Michigan State.
A home-and-home with Florida is next on the docket with a visit to Gainesville (Mar. 1) and a contest at the UCF Baseball Complex (Mar. 2). The Knights travel to take on a familiar Conference USA foe Rice (Mar. 4-6) in a three-game set.
Long Island (Mar. 11-13) along with Brown (Mar. 18, 20) and Bradley (Mar. 19) spend weekends in Orlando. The home slate also includes in-state meetings with Miami (Mar. 16), Florida Atlantic (Apr. 5) and Jacksonville (May. 4).
The highlight of the American Athletic Conference schedule is six meetings with rival South Florida. The Knight host the Bulls on Apr. 15-16 before heading to Tampa on Apr. 29-May 1.
The Knights start the conference slate with road series at Memphis (Apr. 1-3) and Houston (Apr. 8-10). UCF welcomes Tulane (April 22-24), Cincinnati (May 6-8) and East Carolina (May 19-21) to Orlando. An away trip to UConn (May 13-15) completes the league schedule.
The American Athletic Conference Championship is set for May 25-29 in Clearwater, Fla., at Bright House Networks Field. The format consists of a double-elimination tournament.
