After enduring a long 11-day road trip that included back-to-back Big 12 series at Oklahoma State and Texas Tech, along with a midweek stop at Missouri State, UCF Baseball returned home this week with a little momentum on their side.
While their Stillwater leg of the trip didn't go as planned with a sweep by the Cowboys, the Knights bounced back with an 13-2 win at MSU and then won two of three games in Lubbock, clinching the series Sunday with a 15-6 rout that saw Andrew Williamson hit for the cycle and Antonio Jimenez go 5-for-5 with five RBIs.
UCF has now won four of their last five games following Tuesday's 22-5 throttling of Presbyterian.
Their attention now turns to a pivotal home series against Baylor beginning Thursday, the final Big 12 series of the regular season and one that carries major implications for postseason positioning as the Knights are angling to surpass BYU and Utah for the final spot in the conference tournament.
After Tuesday's win vs. Blue Hose, we caught up with head coach Rich Wallace to talk about the recent road trip, the offensive explosion of late, and what's at stake this weekend.
Coach, you're coming off an 11-day road trip. You got a huge series this weekend. Did you accomplish what you wanted to in a game like this tonight?
"Yeah, we're trying to limit who we use in the bullpen, trying to keep the guys on what we were kind of doing offensively this weekend. It looked like that is what happened. Grant Siegel was outstanding, getting Wiley Hartley in a clean inning and then getting Spencer Bauer out there for the first time in a long time. I think that worked out perfectly."
Your offense has now been on fire the last couple of games after losing 3-2 in that Saturday game against Texas Tech. What kind of shift have you seen in the offense?
"Well, it looks like the pitch selection for the most part was better. The plans look a little better when you start seeing the extra base hit show up. Obviously, that helps a lot.
"There was a lot of stuff in that game and a lot of stuff in the Texas Tech game on Sunday where we executed the short game a little bit, we drove the baseball, two-out hitting and then some of the base stealing part of it showed up as well and that showed up again the day early."
Was this top-tier UCF baseball for you?
"Well, I think there are some parts in there defensively. I thought Grant Siegel should have shut them out if we make the defensive plays that we're capable of. There were a couple mental mistakes out there and there were two mental mistakes out there in the night.
"So, offensively, yes, I thought the pitchers were outstanding including Grant, I mean all three of them, but we probably should have shut them out if we play the defense we need to play."
Reflect on how you guys were able to bounce back in Lubbock this past weekend. I know the long road trip didn't get off to the start you wanted, but you needed to get a series at Texas Tech and you did that. Andrew Williamson obviously was among many players who had really big performances.
"Yeah, and I think you roll into Oklahoma State and you get your tail beat the first night and then you're in a really tight one on Saturday and you battle back on Sunday and get nothing for it.
You know, you got to get on the bus and drive to Springfield and in that game (at Missouri State) in the seventh inning I think it's a 3-2 ballgame. So, to that point, to see them kind of push through and finish that game and go on at that place on a Friday night that had all kinds of weather issues.
"We show up at 3 but don't play at 8:30 and they battle through that, then lose a gut punch on Saturday and the performance on Sunday followed by this one, you hope that that's something we can build on."
