GoUSFBulls.com Bulls Club 14 Hits in AAC Opener Loss

[Brad]

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Bulls Club 14 Hits in AAC Opener Loss

The Bulls surrendered five runs in the 7^th to lose a 3-1 lead 

 

NEW ORLEANS, MARCH 31, 2017 – Leading, 3-0, through five innings, the University of South Florida baseball team was on the wrong end of a big late inning, as Tulane drove in five in the seventh to lead a come-from-behind 6-4 win to open American Athletic Conference action Friday night.  

With no score and two hits from both sides in the top half of the fourth, the Bulls (23-4, 0-1 AAC) got their first extra base hit on a Luke Borders (Winter Haven, Fla.) double to right center. Sophomore Joe Genord (Lake Worth, Fla.) followed with a deep RBI double to the wall in left, as it was the second of three-straight two-baggers. Junior Duke Stunkel Jr. (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) providing the last to score Genord. Sophomore David Villar (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) then singled up the middle to score Stunkel Jr. and make it 3-0. 

The Bulls were rolling along until the Green Wave (11-15, 1-0) got on the board with a run in the sixth, then erupted for five in the seventh to take a 6-3 lead. In the decisive seventh, Tulane clubbed six hits, but only three left the infield. 

The Bulls put two men on in the eighth before stranding both, then had two on in the ninth with nobody out. But a double-play silenced the threat, advancing a man to third with two gone. Stunkel Jr. brought in a run to make it 6-4, then Villar singled to put runners on the corners before a slow roller to second by sophomore Tyler Dietrich (Naples, Fla.) and a close play at first ended the game.

Key Stats

• Five Bulls recorded multi-hit games led by sophomore Chris Chatfield (Riverview, Fla.) who went 3-for-4. 
• Borders went 2-for-4 with a run, Stunkel Jr. went 2-for-4 with a run and two RBI, Villar went 2-for-5 with a RBI and sophomore Coco Montes (Miami) went 2-for-5 with a run.
• Starter Phoenix Sanders (Gainesville, Fla.) went 6.1 innings, allowed three runs on four hits while striking out six.
• Junior Joe Cavallaro (Venice, Fla.) was creditd with the loss, as he allowed five hits and three runs in just 0.1 innings. 

Notables

• The Bulls had won 15-straight conference openers prior to the loss. The last time they lost a conference opener was 2001 when they were in Conference USA, as it was also a defeat at Tulane.
• USF clubbed double-digit hits for the 17th time this year and at least 13 hits (14) for the ninth time. It was the third time it had produced 14 hits.

Up Next

The Bulls and Green Wave play the middle game of this AAC opening series Saturday at 5:00 p.m.

[Brad]

 

Quote

Junior Joe Cavallaro (Venice, Fla.) was creditd with the loss, as he allowed five hits and three runs in just 0.1 innings. 

That is one rough outing.  

[charsibb]

1 hour ago, Brad said:

• The Bulls had won 15-straight conference openers prior to the loss. The last time they lost a conference opener was 2001 when they were in Conference USA, as it was also a defeat at Tulane.

 

New #1 rival?

[Triple B]

1 hour ago, Brad said:

 

That is one rough outing.  

81.0 ERA in conference play?

[charsibb]

5 minutes ago, Triple B said:

81.0 ERA in conference play?

When you put it that way...

Wow. Just wow!

 

[JoeB]

2 hours ago, Brad said:

 

That is one rough outing.  

I think 3 of the hits were infield hits, so its a bit misleading.  He's been our best pitcher out of the bullpen all year, ERA around 0.74 up until last night.  Now its over 1.  

Edited April 1, 2017 by JoeB

[Brad]

JoeB, just got to my laptop and looked it up, stats prior to yesterday were solid:

 

 

 

"Around 0.74" was a pretty good estimate.

[JoeB]

Actually I edited it.  I had 0.81 originally and it was a disservice to Joe C.  The stats haven't been updated on the www.gousfbulls.com site yet.  I knew it was low though.  I think I've seen 16 games so far this season and he's been pretty dominant.  Sounds like some bad luck last night.

[Brad]

He's been good enough that it seems it was one of those situations where the coach had so much confidence in him, he left him in and bad stuff just kept happening - like the 3 infield hits you mention....

[Ionbull]

That was a rough inning for joe, but Sanders pitched a gem and the rest of the game was good. Major problem last night was the offense not capitalizing with RISP. I can think of three occasions where runners were stranded with less than 2 out; a couple times due to the DP. It happens. Game 2 and 3 is where the Bulls should earn their weight. Friday starters are generally both good in any given series, it's the 2nd and 3rd starters that should put USF over the edge. McClanahan a better than your average day 2 starter; and Valdes/Strzlecki(sp?) are more than capable #3s.