By Kaden Boyd
Coming to Norman this weekend will be the 9-1 UCF Knights. UCF has been a team that has been circled on our schedule for a LONG time. UCF coming into this season has been a team that has openly talked about wanting to make some noise, and boy have they stepped up to that thus far. The Knights are coming into Norman fresh off a victory against No. 4 Florida Gators, and are looking to keep the momentum going into this weekend.
Looking at the weather for this weekend, it seems like it will be bad weather Friday, and possibly Saturday, but should be cleared by Sunday. This could play a factor in how the ballgames could go, but I do not think it will make any drastic change in the course of the game. With the field being all turf, as long as there is no lighting, the possible rain should not cause the games to be canceled.
Coming into this weekend, the Knights have a combined batting average of .325 and 9 homeruns on the season thus far. This is a team that has some serious pop at the plate, and if you get caught slacking, they will take advantage of it. Last weekend for the Sooners defensively was definitely not ideal, and we cannot make those same mistakes this week, or else it could get ugly fast. UCF is going to challenge us in many ways this weekend, but at the plate is where they seem to be the most dominant in their scheme.
Looking into game one of this weekend, it is looking like the Sooners will be facing Ben Vespi, who coming into this series has an ERA of 3.86 through 14 innings of work total. Vespi is a right handed pitcher, which looking at our lineup, should benefit us with the amount of lefties that we have in the lineup 1-9. I personally believe that this is going to be the pitcher that the Sooners need to attack early and fast, especially since it is game one and it will set the tone for the rest of the weekend.
On the flip side, it is looking like the Sooners are going to be sticking with their regular 3 weekend guys with Davis getting the ball for game one. Davis last weekend, did not have his best stuff and it showed early on. However, Davis is someone that shows to bounce back and is always ready for his next moment. Davis, with the help of some great defense to back him up, should be able to go out and shut down this UCF offense for the most part. Braden Davis has the stuff to be in control as long as he wants to, just as long as he does not let this electric offense that UCF brings to the table get in his head.
For game two, I would assume that we would see Tyler Nesbitt, who started in the Saturday spot last week for the Knights. Nesbitt is coming into this weekend with an ERA of 7.27. Nesbitt is also a right handed pitcher, which yet again, should work out in the favor of the Sooners due to mismatch with lefty batters with a righty arm. So far this season, it feels that Nesbitt has been able to string together a could of good innings, but then has some pretty bad innings. Tyler who is a redshirt Junior, who transferred from Florida University is quite familiar with the Sooners. If the name sounds familiar, Nesbitt was one of the pitchers that the Sooners faced in Gainsville in 2022. So it is nice to see him back on the mound against the Sooners once again…man what a time 2022 was.
For the Sooners, it is safe to say that we will be going with Girton for the Saturday spot again. Girton did not get a start last week due to storms in Vegas…who knew that there were rain storms in Vegas. However, though he did not get a start in Vegas, he was able to come out of the bullpen where he was yet again incredible. Girton has been nothing less than incredible for the Sooners and I do not see this momentum stopping anytime soon for him either.
On day three, the starting pitcher is kind of a toss up for UCF at this point. The reason I say that is last week the game three starter against USF was Dom Stagliano. Against USF was his first start of the season which is why I am honestly not entirely sure who will start for the Knight. Dom is another Right handed pitcher from Stetson University who has been incredible this far this season. Stagliano has seen 9.1 innings so far this season getting 13 strikeouts along the way. Though that stat is incredibly impressive, Stagliano shows that he is human walking 6 batters this season with 5 coming in his last start against South Florida. If the Sooners are able to work the count like they have been all season, I do not see why we do not get to Stagliano.
Game three for the Sooners is going to go to James Hitt. Hitt last week was unstoppable against Ohio State Universtiy, showing Sooner nation that his start against Wright State was truly just a fluke. Hitt came back firing on all cylinders getting that off speed pitch that was missing against Wright State to be one of his best pitchers of the day. I think after last week, Hitt has got his swagger and confidence back, and is just ready to get the ball back in his hand. If this weekend does end up going to a rubber match, I truly believe that we have the better pitcher and bullpen to get us through to the end and come out with a win.
This weekend is Rock N Roll weekend at the Ballpark with each day having a new activity or gift to fans that show up early. Lets go have ourselves a weekend and all sing “Sweet Caroline” this Rock N Roll weekend.
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