Everything You Need To Know About The UCF Knights Baseball Team For The Big 12 Tournament

For the first time in over two decades, the UCF Knights baseball team is entering its conference tournament with 19 conference wins under its belt.

Despite pitching injuries and several close losses, the Knights finished in the top six in the Big 12 standings, giving them the opportunity to start their Big 12 Tournament run in Surprise, Arizona, with Thursday's quarterfinals.

Here is everything you need to know about the Knights as they embark on a quest for their first Big 12 title:

When and Who Are They Playing?
Players To Watch
Keys To The Tournament
Are There Any NCAA Tournament Implications?
Our Prediction

1. When and Who Are They Playing?

2026 Big 12 Baseball Tournament presented by Allstate Bracket Announced

next stop ➡️ Surprise, AZ ⚾️

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— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) May 17, 2026

Despite being picked to finish 10th in the Big 12 in the preseason, the Knights finished fourth in the Big 12, earning them the right to a double bye in the conference tournament. However, their quarterfinal opponent, 5-seed Oklahoma State, has the same privilege.

Back during the regular season, the Knights swept the Cowboys at John Euliano Park to get their Big 12 schedule underway back in March, marking the first time they swept a Big 12 team since joining the conference.

The Cowboys finished the regular season at 36-19 (18-12 Big 12) and sport a pair of All-Big 12 First Team outfielders in Landon Hairston and Kollin Ritchie, the latter of whom is the Big 12's home run leader. As a team, Oklahoma State is one of the nation's leaders in walks (311, 13th in the nation), home runs (137, second in the nation) and strikeouts (10.3 per nine innings, 21st in the nation).

The Knights and Cowboys' matchup gets underway at 12 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday. The winner takes on 1-seed Kansas, 8-seed Baylor or 9-seed BYU in the semifinals on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time. UCF suffered its only sweep of the season against the Jayhawks, took two of three against Baylor back on May 8-10 and did not face BYU during the regular season.

2. Players To Watch

Eight Knights players earned All-Big 12 honors this season:

Outfielders John Smith III and Andrew Williamson both earned Second Team honors after their 12 home runs apiece tied for the most on the team. Both also rank in the Top 25 in the Big 12 in slugging percentage, with Williamson's .598 coming just ahead of Smith's .592. However, Smith's 49 RBIs do beat Williamson's 41. Smith's average of 1.09 RBIs per game ranks as the 11th-highest in the Big 12.

Starting pitcher Camden Wicker was the Knights' only starting pitcher who managed to stay healthy for the entire season. His efforts were rewarded with an All-Big 12 Second Team honor, and game notes say that he is projected as the Knights' starter for their quarterfinal matchup against Oklahoma State. He ranks 24th in the nation and second in the Big 12 with a 1.03 WHIP, 14th in the nation and leads the Big 12 with 6.09 hits allowed per nine innings and sixth in the league with a 3.71 ERA.

Shortstop Jordan Lodise, who saw his brother, Kyle, and cousin, Alex, get selected in the first three rounds of the 2025 MLB Draft, marked his debut college baseball season with an All-Big 12 Freshman Team honor. He ranks 23rd in the nation and third in the Big 12 in sacrifice flies. He also leads the team with 14 doubles and his 26 walks rank second on the team behind Williamson.

Relief pitcher Max Murray also earned an All-Big 12 Freshman Team honor. His five wins tie current starters Mateo Gray and Wicker for the most on the team, and his 33 strikeouts rank as the fourth-highest on the team, despite only pitching 29.2 innings this season.

Of the Knights' current relief pitchers, Evan Jones has pitched the most on the team with 41. He earned an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honor after recording four saves and a 1.15 WHIP. He also leads the bullpen with 46 strikeouts. However, he is prone to giving up home runs, allowing nine this season, and was credited with three losses in three close games against South Florida, West Virginia and Cincinnati.

Despite having the highest batting average on the team, Australian catcher Zak Skinner earned just an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honor this season. He ranks 88th in the nation and 12th in the Big 12 with a .366 batting average. He also ranks 12th in the league with 1.42 hits per game, and his 38 RBIs rank third on the team behind Smith and Williamson.

Other players to watch include third baseman Javier Crespo, whose .333 batting average is the second-best on the team behind Skinner, JD Rogers, who broke out in the second half of the season as a designated hitter and sports a .579 slugging percentage, and Stephen Chucka, who has gone 7-25 at the plate for what have mostly been pinch-hitting appearances and sports a .520 slugging percentage.

3. Keys To The Tournament

Strike While the Iron is Hot: The Knights are 10-10 (5-6 Big 12) this season in one and two-run games, and 3-14 (0-8 Big 12) when trailing after seven innings. They have not been prone to late-inning comebacks, so they need to hold opposing batters back and build themselves a cushion quickly on offense to maximize their chances at conference hardware.

What's more, the Knights are 8-16 (4-8 Big 12) in games in which they score five runs or less and 23-3 (15-2 Big 12) when scoring six runs or more. So, getting on the board early would help in their effort to build such a cushion.

Don't Waste Arms: The Knights may sport the 19th-lowest ERA in the nation and second-lowest in the Big 12 at 4.24, but they have been doing so with a limited stable of pitchers thanks to injuries to six pitchers. It has gotten to the point that infielder Braden Calise took the mound for the first time in his college career to pitch a couple of innings this season.

However, this has posed less of an issue if starters were able to turn in long appearances. The Knights are 18-6 (10-4 Big 12) this season in games in which starters lasted five or more innings and 12-15 (8-8 Big 12), in which they did not.

So, not only can a good starting performance on the mound help the Knights build an early cushion, but it can also help them save having to expend bullpen arms too early.

4. Are There Any NCAA Tournament Implications?

D1Baseball May 18 First Four Out

⚔️ Troy
😼 Texas State
⚡️ Kent State
🐆 South Alabama

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— D1Baseball (@d1baseball) May 19, 2026

The Knights rank 32nd in the RPI rankings going into the Big 12 Tournament, and D1Baseball projects them as the 31st overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. Even if they lose their quarterfinal game to Oklahoma State (29th in RPI rankings), their second NCAA Tournament appearance of the Wallace era is secured.

However, they are on the borderline for being a Top 32 overall seed. So, a loss to the Cowboys, or even a loss at all, depending on how other conference tournaments shake out, could push UCF from being a regional No. 2-seed to a regional 3-seed, which would make a difference in which regional it would travel to.

If the Knights were a Top 32 seed, their regional site would be at the mercy of how the Top 16 seeds are ranked, regardless if it sends them to Atlanta or Los Angeles. However, if they fall out of the Top 32, then their regional assignment would be up to the selection committee, which would likely prioritize a relatively short trip, likely somewhere in the southeast. Both of these outcomes have their advantages and disadvantages, and the true ramifications are not going to be known until the bracket is revealed on May 25.

5. Our Prediction

Considering where the Knights were projected to finish this season, to count them out of making a run to the Big 12 title would be foolish. However, just because it is possible does not make it the most likely outcome. Since the Knights only need to win three games to win the tournament, this weekend could be looked at as just another three-game series for them.

Looking back at the regular season, all of UCF's three-game sweeps came in Orlando at John Euliano Park, with one exception, a road series in Salt Lake City against Utah, a team that lost in the Big 12 Tournament to Baylor.

Oklahoma State hit against Wicker well in the regular season, but it's been a long time since then. So, while it might be a close game, we predict the Knights are going to prevail against the Cowboys, but end up eliminated in the semifinals by the 1-seed, Kansas. While it would not be enough to earn UCF's first Big 12 title, it should be enough to keep them in the Top 32 seeds.

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