UCF baseball hopes to make a splash in NCAA Tournament after missing 2025
UCF is returning to the NCAA Baseball Tournament after missing the regionals last season.
The Knights (31-21) will face N.C. State (32-22) in the second game of the Auburn Regional at Plainsman Park on Friday (6 p.m., ESPNU). It’s the second meeting between the programs, but the first since 1994.
It's the 14th time that UCF has earned a spot in the 64-team NCAA tournament field and the second since the hiring of coach Rich Wallace in 2023.
"This group’s a special group, so to keep them together to be able to practice for another week and compete no matter where it is - it means a lot," said Wallace. "Obviously, our group is extremely excited. We got our work cut out for us, but the guys are excited for the challenge."
Wallace wanted to do something special for the team during the watch party for the selection show, so he invited everyone to a relative's house near the UCF Rowing Center, located near Lake Pickett. During ESPN's broadcast, the players were shown celebrating the news in a swimming pool.
"We wanted to do something a little more UCF-ish, where we’re in Orlando,” Wallace said, “so might as well get out in the pool in the sunshine and enjoy this thing and do it a little different, do it the UCF way.”
"This is what this team is. This team just loves to have fun," added senior outfielder DeAmez Ross. "We did some cannonballs, we did some back flips in the lake. It was amazing."
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No. 4 national seed Auburn (38-19) will face Milwaukee (25-31) in the first game of the double-elimination tournament Friday (1 p.m., ESPN+).
"I've watched Auburn and N.C. State a bunch, but I haven’t really watched Milwaukee, but we kind of know what we’re getting with two really talented championship-level teams," said Wallace.
It’s only the second time in program history that UCF has played a regional outside of Florida since 2001, when the Knights earned a spot in the Columbia Regional in South Carolina.
“When we started building (our schedule) in the fall, we didn’t play a home fall game,” said Wallace. “We purposely went on the road, knowing that in this league (the Big 12), if you want to make a run, you’ve got to play well on the road.
“We’ve won four of the five road series and these guys have been road warriors the whole time.”
UCF is 18-26 all-time in NCAA regional appearances, including a 2-2 mark in its last appearance in 2024. The Knights have never advanced to the Super Regional in the 52-year history of the program.
It's been a bounce-back season for UCF, which was coming off a disappointing 29-26 campaign in 2025 that included a 9-21 mark in the Big 12. The Knights failed to qualify for a conference tournament for the first time since 2010.
This season, the team finished fourth (19-11) in the Big 12 standings, behind Kansas (22-8), West Virginia (21-9) and Arizona State (19-11), but the Knights lost in the conference tournament quarterfinals to Oklahoma State. Those Big 12 rivals all made the field, along with Cincinnati. Kansas is the No. 15 national seed. West Virginia is No. 16.
Please find me on X, Bluesky or Instagram @osmattmurschel. Email: mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com. Sign up for the Sentinel's Knights Weekly newsletter for a roundup of all our UCF coverage.
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This story was originally published May 25, 2026 at 3:31 PM.