Dream day: UCF's Plumlee stars on baseball, football fields

Updated Apr. 17, 2023 11:59 a.m. ET

Associated Press

John Rhys Plumlee is the consummate two-sport athlete for Central Florida.

Plumlee went 2 for 3 with a triple and two RBIs in Friday's 12-3 win over Memphis before he left the game in the seventh inning and raced to the football stadium. Then he threw for 236 yards and two touchdowns in the Golden Knights' spring football game.

“One of the coolest days of my life, and I think I'm probably going to die with it being one of the coolest days of my life,” Plumlee said. “I’m super, super thankful and blessed to be able to do what I do and be able to have the fun that I’m able to have. This is a movie for me. This is a dream for me. Second-grade John Rhys dreamed about this day for a long time.”

Plumlee transferred to UCF in January 2022 after he played football three seasons and baseball two seasons at Mississippi. He was unable to play baseball for the Knights last season because he arrived after a deadline that would have made him immediately eligible.

Football coach Gus Malzahn and baseball coach Greg Lovelady worked out a plan that allowed Plumlee to play both sports. Plumlee led the Knights to eight wins and a bowl as the starting quarterback last season. He's started 35 of 36 games in center field this spring and is batting .291 with five homers.

The Knights were ahead 10-3 in the seventh Friday when Plumlee checked with Lovelady to see if he could take his at-bat that inning before heading to the spring game. Plumlee singled, got a pinch runner and jumped into a golf cart to take him to the football stadium.

The time it took for him to go from the dugout to sideline and change uniforms: 7 minutes.

“That's a pretty good time, right?" Plumlee said. “I think it has to be a world record.”

IN THE POLLS

LSU (29-6) won two of three over Kentucky at home and remained atop the national polls.

Wake Forest (31-5) and Florida (30-7) remain Nos. 2 and 3, respectively, in the D1Baseball.com rankings. Baseball America continues to have those two teams flip-flopped.

Collegiate Baseball newspaper kept Vanderbilt (29-7) second and moved Wake Forest from fourth to third.

DUCKS FLYING HIGH

Oregon bounced back from a series loss to rival Oregon State to take two of three from a top-10 Stanford, and the Ducks are 15-3 since a 9-7 start. They've also won eight of their last 11 in Pac-12 play.

Jace Stoffal was the first Oregon pitcher to throw a shutout since 2017 in Friday's 4-0 win, and Logan Mercado followed with the Ducks' second straight complete game in an 8-1 win Saturday. Oregon pitchers issued 10 walks in a 6-4 loss Sunday.

COMMODORES RIGHT SHIP

Vanderbilt looks like its old self after an off year in 2022. The Commodores (29-7) have won all nine of their weekend series after taking two of three from South Carolina. They lead the SEC at 13-2 after finishing last season two games under .500 in conference play.

HOMERING HUSKERS

Powered by gusty winds blowing out, Nebraska hit a school-record seven home runs in an 18-5 win over Northwestern on Sunday. Brice Matthews went deep twice for the Cornhuskers, who have 61 homers in 33 games after hitting 51 in 53 games last season.

The Huskers (21-11-1, 7-2) lead the Big Ten at this point in the season for the first time since the conference-only schedule in 2021.

UNCW MILESTONE

UNC Wilmington, which has been playing baseball since 1957, earned its first road series win over a ranked opponent when it took two of three against a TCU team as high as No. 23 in the polls last week. The Seahawks scored 11 runs with two outs in Sunday's 12-6 series-clinching win.

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