Knights to take on Southern Miss in weekend home series

After beating three nationally-ranked teams this season, the No. 23 Knights now have a ranking of their own own.

The Knights entered the Top 25 polls for the first time since 2008, jumping in the Collegiate Baseball rankings to No. 23.

UCF now looks to beat its fourth ranked team this year as the Knights host No. 20 Southern Miss for a three-game Conference USA showdown starting Friday.

"You always want to beat a team that's ranked, especially when it's a rivalry," said Chase Bradford, who picked up a win in his first UCF start on March 29 against No. 20 Stetson.

Four C-USA teams entered the week ranked but head coach Terry Rooney feels confident that his team knows this is only the beginning. The Knights know what is at stake.

"Conference USA, we're the third RPI (ratings percentage index) right now, these teams are unbelievable. It's going to be a battle every single weekend that we play," Rooney said.

Southern Miss defeated Alabama earlier in the season and the Golden Eagles have swept Eastern Illinois and Missouri State. In its first C-USA weekend, Southern Miss won two of three against Tulane. The loss to the Green Wave was a one-run difference in a 10-inning game; one win was a 12-0 seven-inning rout.

Southern Miss' right-handed pitcher Todd McInnis earned his 30th career win Friday against Tulane. McInnis (5-1) owns a 2.63 ERA and has struck out 39 batters this season. The likely Friday night starter was the C-USA Pitcher of the Year as a redshirt sophomore in 2009.

Pitching rotation

UCF will likely throw Ben Lively (5-0), Danny Winkler (3-1) and Ray Hanson (2-0).

Lively won his first Friday start against then-No. 23 Rice in a strange outing. The freshman pitched 5-2/3 innings, struck out none and walked eight. He only gave up two runs off of four hits in his victory, becoming the first UCF pitcher since to start a season 5-0 since 2005.

Junior Winkler picked up his first loss of the season in game two against Rice. The righty had started on Fridays until the Rice series; he had also been a reliever for the first time this season in a mid-week game against Miami prior to the Rice series. Winkler has a season ERA of 5.52 but has struck out a team-high 36 batters.

Hanson is 2-0 on the season and did not get a decision in Game Three against Rice. He pitched only 3-2/3 innings but struck out four batters in his outing.

The Knights will have to battle for their ranking and for their series this weekend against the Golden Eagles. Rooney congratulated the team but made sure the Knights understood what was on the line.

"I said, ‘Congratulations. It's quite an honor to be ranked in the polls. Now you're officially a top-25 team, but we can't be content.' " That's what I told them," Rooney said. "We have something to prove. Not all of the polls had us in it but a major one did and I'm excited about it."

What to watch for

— Erik Hempe. The junior is batting .333 and went 3-for-3 against Stetson on March 29.

— Ronnie Richardson. The everyday center fielder and occasional closer has a team-high four triples and the second-highest batting average on the team at .352. He led off for the Knights for the first time all season on Tuesday against Stetson.

— Southern Miss' B.A. Vollmuth. The shortstop has a team-high nine home runs and is batting .355.

Notes

— UCF is one of 10 schools in the country to have top-25 ranked football, basketball and baseball teams in the 2010-2011 year.

—UCF is the only school to have a top-25 ranking in football, basketball, men's soccer, women's soccer, baseball and indoor track and field.