University of Central Florida Baseball

Rich Wallace, an Orlando native and former UCF baseball player and Knight assistant coach, brings two decades of experience as a Division I baseball coach with him in his return to Orlando as UCF’s seventh head baseball coach. The 2024 season marked Wallace's first season as UCF's head coach as well as the program's first year of competition in the Big 12 Conference. During his first season at the helm of his alma mater in 2024, Wallace led his Knights to a 37-21 record and the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2017—with a trip to the 2024 NCAA Tallahassee Regional. He also led the Black and Gold to six conference series victories in the program's inaugural season of competition in the Big 12 Conference to finish eighth in the league with a 14-15 conference record. With a possible postseason bid on the line, Wallace then led the Knights to a deep run at the 2024 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship by going 2-1 and reaching the semifinal round. UCF then received an at-large selection as a No 3 seed at the NCAA Tallahassee Regional and the Black and Gold went on to record wins over Alabama and Stetson to reach the finals of the regional before falling to the host and No. 8 Florida State Seminoles. Wallace helped his 2024 squad enter the Top 25 national rankings for the first time since February of 2021, as the team spent two weeks in early April in the national rankings. The Knights were ranked as high as 16th by the NCBWA and 17th by D1Baseball. Wallace also guided

Drew Thomas joined the UCF baseball staff in June 2023 as the pitching coach. As the Knights’ pitching coach, Thomas has made an immediate impact by helping the staff lower its team ERA by more than a run and half—from 5.80 in 2023 to 4.29 in 2025. The 4.29 ERA not only led the Big 12 Conference but also ranked 19th nationally. Thomas also guided the pitching staff to a 1.30 WHIP, the best mark in the Big 12 and the 16th-best in the country, underscoring his ability to elevate the staff into one of the nation’s top-performing units. In his first season of coaching at UCF, Thomas helped lead the Knights to a 37-21 overall record and the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2017 with a trip to the 2024 NCAA Tallahassee Regional. Thomas also helped UCF win six Big 12 Conference series in the program's first year in the league to finish eighth with a 14-15 conference mark, as well as to a deep run at the 2024 Big 12 Championship by going 2-1 and reaching the semifinal round. The UCF pitching coach has helped see a total of seven Knights drafted in the MLB Draft over his first two seasons with a pair getting drafted in 2024 (RHP Najer Victor, Angels, 14th Rd.; RHP Chase Centala, Marlins, 20th Rd.) and five drafted in 2025 (SS Antonio Jimenez, Mets, 3rd Rd.; C Edian Espinal, Tigers, 10th Rd.; RHP Alex Galvan, Diamondbacks, 13th Rd.; C Dylan King, Reds, 17th Rd.; RHP Angelo Smith, Angels, 18th Rd.). Of the seven, four have been pitchers. He has also helped see a pair of

Shane Gierke joined the UCF baseball program in July 2025 as an assistant coach. Gierke brings a wealth of coaching experience to UCF, as he has 20-plus years of collegiate coaching experience under his belt. He comes to Orlando after spending the past four seasons (2022-25) at neighboring foe Stetson, where he most recently served as the Hatters’ associate head coach and recruiting coordinator. Prior to Stetson, Gierke spent six seasons (2016-21) as the lead assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Troy. He got his start at West Florida, where he worked 12 years as the assistant head coach at his alma mater (2004-15). During his time in DeLand, he helped the Hatters to back-to-back NCAA Regional appearances, as Stetson competed in the NCAA Tournament in each of the past two seasons (2024 and 2025). He also helped the Hatters surpass the 40-win plateau twice, as the team went 41-22 in both 2024 and 2025. Gierke helped a total of four Hatters get drafted in the 2025 MLB Draft, which included fourth-round selection Lorenzo Meola (Giants). Gierke led the offense to new heights during his time in DeLand, as the team eclipsed every major category offensively in 2024 except for home runs. Having excelled in his role as an assistant coach, his efforts were recognized as he was named one of the top 100 assistant coaches by D1Baseball ahead of the 2024 campaign. His 2022 recruiting class was also recognized by Perfect Game, as his class was ranked in the Top 40 nationally by the