#3 Ole Miss at UCF Baseball Preview

No. 3 Ole Miss comes to Orlando tonight for the start of a three-game set against the 7-1 Knights.

The Knights traveled to Oxford last season and Knights took two of the three games from the then No. 1 ranked Rebels.

The Knights won the first game 3-2, but were walked off in the ninth inning to lose the second game 6-5. The Knights played one of their best games of the year Sunday winning 7-2.

Knights’ shortstop Alex Freeland said that he still believes the Knights should have gotten the sweep, but that the series has still given them higher standards for this year.

“I think we have a lot of confidence going into this weekend just because we know we’ve done it before,” Freeland said.

UCF Head Coach Greg Lovelady echoed Freeland’s confidence, but said that they can expect Ole Miss to come more prepared than ever.

“They’ll be ready, I think they’ll be a little bit more prepared than last year just knowing what we did to them, so we have to up our game too,” Lovelady said after practice Thursday. “Everything we’ve done up until this point is great but we have to play better this weekend because of all the things that are on the line here. We also know that they’re going to bring it so we have to be prepared for that.”

The 8-0 Rebels will bring a very high-powered offense to John Euliano Park this weekend. They’re scoring an average of 11.5 runs per game thus far this season according to NCAA.com, and they’ve scored at least nine runs in every game. Four of their eight games have ended with them winning via mercy rule.

Lovelady had high praises for the Rebels’ offensive ability, but said that his pitchers have reason to be confident.

“It’s nothing that we aren’t unprepared for, we saw the offense last year and how potent it can be, and again [they’re] a year older, they’re more experienced and more potent than they were last year,” Lovelady said.

This showcase will truly be a showcase of strength versus strength. While the Rebels have been led heavily on their offense, the Knights have leaned heavily on their pitching staff.

The Knights’ pitching staff is only allowing one run per game so far this season. That 1.00 ERA is fifth best in college baseball, according to NCAA.com.

Tonight’s starting pitcher David Litchfield said stats are irrelevant to him in preparation for his start.

“I don’t really look at their numbers, I just look at what I do best, which is attack the zone and make them swing at my pitches,” Litchfield said.

When asked about the team’s 1.00 ERA, Litchfield gave all the credit to his teammates and pitching coach Nick Otte.

“Wherever the analytics say this is where our stuff is the best, he [Coach Otte] just calls those pitches, and everybody’s just executing that at a very high rate,” Litchfield said.

In his two starts this season, Litchfield is 2-0 and has only given up one run in 13 innings, according to ucfknights.com.

Right-hander Connor Staine will get the nod on the mound for the Knights in game two on Saturday. Staine has only pitched 8.2 innings in his two starts this season because of a strict pitch count, but he’s still been able to strike out 10 batters and hasn’t yet given up an earned run.

Hunter Patteson will take the mound in Sunday’s series finale. Patteson was named AAC pitcher of the week last week after his 10-strikeout performance against Georgia Southern last Sunday.

Patteson has also not yet given up a run in his 12 innings of work.

Game one is tonight at John Euliano Park at 6 p.m., followed by tomorrow at 4 p.m. and Sunday at noon. As always, students enter free with a valid student ID.

Litchfield said the team is looking forward to seeing a packed house for this weekend’s series so they can show that last years’ matchup against the Rebels was no fluke.

“[The] pitching staff is going to do what we do best,” Litchfield said. “be one of the best pitching staffs in the country.”

Jason Hamby's Twitter: @Jason_Hamby14

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