Baseball Opens Practice With Midnight Session

EDMOND – The University of Central Oklahoma baseball took full advantage of its first allowable day of practice Friday, with the Bronchos holding a 12 a.m. training session at Wendell Simmons Field to officially open the 2020 season.

"The guys were excited," UCO head coach John Martin said. "We like to get out there the first minute we can to start the season. We're not overdoing anything, it's a good team-building experience. But it's 60 degrees with no wind on January 10. You can't beat that.

"We're looking forward to getting started," Martin continued. "We've got a really good core group of guys back and we think our newcomers are going to help us out. We have a few weeks of practice before we get going and we're ready to see what we can do."

Central Oklahoma will open play Friday, Jan. 31 when the Bronchos host the second annual Edmond First Pitch Classic. UCO will play Henderson State as part of the three-day festival featuring seven regional teams.

SEE UCO'S COMPLETE SCHEDULE HERE

The Bronchos return 20 players from last season's squad that went 38-20 and made a third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. Central has seven pitchers back from that squad that set a new school record with 538 strikeouts. UCO also set a new NCAA Division II record for fielding percentage, boasting an astounding .985 percentage.

UCO also features 17 newcomers this season, including 10 pitchers.

Central Oklahoma has seen continued excellence on the diamond over the past two decades. UCO has won 674 games, seven division or conference titles, and made eight NCAA Tournament appearances. Over the past three seasons, Central has had three players selected to the Major League Baseball Draft.

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