UCF is a good program and team and it'll definitely be the most complete opponent Ole Miss has faced this season. I'm really interested in tonight with Ole Miss going against David Litchfield. UCF is 7-1 against bad and ok competition, losing the Sunday game against Georgia Southern as the only loss. Their three starters have allowed one earned run in 33.2 innings this season and all have WHIPs of fewer than 1.0 -- .42, .92, .62. Obviously they haven't seen an offense like Ole Miss yet.
Litchfield is a legitimate pitcher at the collegiate level. Rippee reminded me about him earlier in the week. Litchfield was the closer a year ago and he had eight saves and a 2.73 ERA in 36.1 innings. He's your basic right-hander, but he doesn't make a ton of mistakes. He threw 67 percent of his pitches for strikes last year and 73 percent of his sliders for strikes. He's going to nibble with the breaking ball and try to get Ole Miss to screw with it on the edges of the zone. He won't be a big strikeout guy unless Ole Miss really helps. But it's the best opposing arm to date and a really similar look or better compared to what Ole Miss will see on most Saturdays and Sundays in the SEC.
Staine tomorrow is going to try to throw it by Ole Miss. The fastball can get into the mid 90s and up a touch. He transferred from Maryland and was fairly bad there.
Ole Miss needs a higher strike percentage on the mound. UCF isn't a hugely prolific offense, but Ole Miss starters are getting into too many bad counts. I'll watch for that tonight and this weekend. And then it's a duh thing but play defense. The errors are too many, and it can cost a game in Orlando.
Litchfield is a legitimate pitcher at the collegiate level. Rippee reminded me about him earlier in the week. Litchfield was the closer a year ago and he had eight saves and a 2.73 ERA in 36.1 innings. He's your basic right-hander, but he doesn't make a ton of mistakes. He threw 67 percent of his pitches for strikes last year and 73 percent of his sliders for strikes. He's going to nibble with the breaking ball and try to get Ole Miss to screw with it on the edges of the zone. He won't be a big strikeout guy unless Ole Miss really helps. But it's the best opposing arm to date and a really similar look or better compared to what Ole Miss will see on most Saturdays and Sundays in the SEC.
Staine tomorrow is going to try to throw it by Ole Miss. The fastball can get into the mid 90s and up a touch. He transferred from Maryland and was fairly bad there.
Ole Miss needs a higher strike percentage on the mound. UCF isn't a hugely prolific offense, but Ole Miss starters are getting into too many bad counts. I'll watch for that tonight and this weekend. And then it's a duh thing but play defense. The errors are too many, and it can cost a game in Orlando.
