UCF bounces back

The Knights have gotten their groove back with five straight wins propelling them along their longest winning streak of the season after a 7-3 win over Houston on April 28.

After a horrendous start to the season, pitcher Brian Adkins looks like he’s made a 180 turnaround with two straight wins without giving up an earned run. He struck out five in six innings before handing the ball off to Zac Favre for his fourth save of the season.

From the plate the Knights mastered small ball, with only one extra base hit among their 11 in the game, coming courtesy of a double by designated hitter Bret Gordon.

The win gave the Knights (25-19, 11-7) the series sweep over Houston (27-17, 7-8), their second series sweep in Conference USA play this year. At press time Wednesday the Knights were hosting Bethune-Cookman for a single non-conference respite before taking the bus to Tallahassee for a three-game series against Florida State this weekend.

That could prove one of the toughest series the Knights have faced in team history. The Seminoles are 35-9 this season, having started the season with 16-straight wins, including a 23-5 slaughterhouse against Villanova.

But the Seminoles have shown some weakness as of late, dropping a three-game sweep at the hands of Virginia two weeks ago.

The Knights and the Seminoles have a history, though that history has not been kind to UCF. Last season in a two-game series the Knights dropped both, though both came by a margin of just one run. The last time the Knights beat the Seminoles was May 7, 2011, when they won a 14-10 slugfest. In their last five meetings, the Seminoles have taken four wins.

The action starts at 6 p.m. Friday. They’ll follow that with a 6 p.m. Saturday game, then 1 p.m. Sunday. All three games will be televised on ESPN3.