Ahead of the UCF Knights’ first game in the 2018 American Athletic Conference Tournament, six Knights were named to All-AAC teams.
Relief pitcher Thad Ward and first baseman Rylan Thomas were named to the 2018 All-AAC First Team, and second baseman Matthew Mika, center fielder Ray Alejo, utility player Dallas Beaver and left fielder Tyler Osik were named to the 2018 All-AAC Second Team.
Ward concluded the 2018 regular season with 21 appearances and a career-high five starts. Additionally, he also recorded two of his three career saves this season. In total, the junior notched a 2.82 ERA in a career-high 60.2 innings, striking out 82. The second-most innings Ward pitched in his UCF career was 35.1 innings last season.
Some of Ward’s best pitching came toward the end of the season. In three of his last four outings against Wichita State University, the University of Houston and the University of Oklahoma, the Fort Myers native pitched 11.2 innings with 15 strikeouts while allowing just one hit and three walks.
“Over the last half of the year, Thad was lights out,” second-year Knights head coach Greg Lovelady said, per the team. “We brought him in a bunch of high-leverage situations, and he was able to throw multiple innings and shut down the other team’s offense. He gave us a lot of chances to win games, regardless if we were leading or trailing.”
Thomas built off an impressive true-freshman season in which he led the Knights in home runs (14) and RBIs (53). As a sophomore, Thomas did so again, smashing 13 homers and recording 54 RBIs. The Winter Garden native also improved his batting average from .303 to .348 and reduced the number of times he struck out from a team-high 86 to 61.
These were expectations the conference made for Thomas at the beginning of the season, as he was named the American’s 2018 Preseason Player of the Year. He was a statistical monster in the AAC, leading the conference in RBIs and ranking third in hits. Thomas also set a single-season school record by reaching base in the Knights’ first 47 games while leading the team in walks (35).
“With all the pressure of being the preseason player of the year and coming back from a great season last year, it’s even more impressive to see what he’s been able to do as a sophomore,” Lovelady said. “I’m proud of how he’s shown up every day and guided our offense.
“We needed someone to step up and have that kind of consistency, and he did it.”
Mika made his way to the second team by hitting a career-high .282 batting average and by notching a career-high four home runs after not hitting any in 2017. He also tallied 27 stolen bases, the second-most for UCF.
As for Alejo, he made a name for himself on the bases, as his 33 stolen bases led the AAC. Combined with Mika, the duo had the most stolen bases of any two players combined in the country. Alejo finished the 2018 season hitting .301 with 24 RBIs and a team-high three triples while starting all 53 of his appearances.
“Mika and Ray are both table-setters. They’re able to put themselves in a scoring position and put pressure on the other pitcher,” Lovelady said. “It’s great to know that when those guys get on base, we don’t have to put multiple hits together to score runs…
“Defensively, they’re two of the best players I’ve seen in their positions. Ray has erased countless runs because of his range, which is pretty special since he’s a first-time outfielder. Mika is just the consistent leader at second base that we needed.”
Beaver played in a lot of places for the Knights. He made most of his appearances as a designated hitter, playing 24 games there somewhere near the top of the order. The Kissimmee native also started 20 games at catcher and 10 games at third base. Beaver improved on his .158 batting average from 2017 significantly, hitting .281 with six doubles, six home runs and 30 RBIs in 2018.
As for Osik, he was just as critical to the Knights’ offense as Thomas was during the regular season. The Shoreham, New York, native tied Thomas for the conference’s most RBIs while hitting .307 in his first season for UCF. Osik added nine home runs, six doubles and a triple, too, while walking 17 times.
“At the start of the season, we needed more guys at the top of the order to step up,” Lovelady said. “Beaver made some huge strides to develop into a consistent bat in our lineup after a freshman year when he didn’t have a lot of at-bats.
“[And] after not playing baseball last year, Osik proved that he could play at this level. He gives Rylan a ton of protection, and he allowed for our lineup to be much more dynamic.”
The Knights and their six honorees will start their AAC tournament run on Tuesday at 9 a.m. against the ECU Pirates. ECU took two of three games in the two teams’ lone series of 2018. UCF won Game 1 9-1 but fell 12-4 in Game 2 and 11-6 in Game 3.
Last season, No. 1-seeded UCF lost Game 1 of the AAC tournament to last-seeded ECU 14-3.
For more on the Knights, as they look to even the 2018 series with ECU, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.
To contact Victor, you can email him at vtan@newdayreview.com.
