GoUSFBulls.com No. 23 Bulls Battle No. 5 Gators Tuesday in Gainesville

[Brad]

USF ATHLETICS GoUSFBulls.com

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No. 23 Bulls Battle No. 5 Gators Tuesday in Gainesville  

 

Matchup: USF (37-10, 12-6 The American) at Florida (35-13, 16-8 SEC)
Date: Tuesday, May 9, 2017 
Time: 6:30 p.m. 
Location: Gainesville, Fla. | Alfred A. McKethan Stadium (5,500)
Follow: Stats | Listen | Watch
 

TAMPA, MAY 8, 2017 – The University of South Florida baseball team begins an eight-game road trip to close out the regular with a matchup against No. 5 Florida, Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. 

The game can be heard on AM 1040 and watched live on the SEC Network or on the Watch ESPN app.

The Bulls grabbed sole possession of first place in The American thanks to their seventh series sweep of the year, defeating ECU in each of the weekend’s three games. USF’s 37 wins are the most since 2012 with two weeks remaining in the regular season. 

Sophomore catcher Tyler Dietrich (Naples, Fla.) was named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week for his efforts over the weekend. Dietrich hit .750 in the two games he played with three runs and five RBI. 

Redshirt-junior Peter Strzelecki (Lake Worth, Fla.) was named to The American Weekly Honor Roll after a career outing on Sunday. Strzelecki pitched 8.1 innings, surrendered just three hits and one earned run while striking out a career-high 10 batters. 

Series History

Tuesday marks the 85th meeting between the Bulls and Gators. USF last defeated Florida in 2012 - a 5-3 victory in Gainesville - and has defeated the Gators 24 times.  

Scouting Report – Florida

The Gators have won nine-straight games and 15 of their last 17 overall. They sit at 16-8 in the SEC and have been balanced during the winning streak, allowing more than four runs just twice while scoring at least six runs eight times.

Florida’s offense is led by sophomore outfielder Nelson Maldonado, who is hitting .318 with 27 runs, six doubles, four home runs and 18 RBI. Junior infielder Christian Hicks is batting .309 with eight doubles, four homers and 23 RBI. Junior catcher JJ Schwartz leads the team with six blasts and 39 RBI.

The pitching has been stout, currently sitting second in the SEC and 13th in the nation with a 3.16 ERA. Freshman righty Garrett Milchin will make his second start Tuesday. He has appeared in 16 games primarily out of the bullpen, but has been highly effective. The frosh is 4-1 with a 1.85 ERA and has struck out 17 across 24.1 innings.

Notables

·   The Bulls ranked No 23 according to Baseball America and USA Today as of Monday, No. 24 according to D1 Baseball and check in at No. 23 in RPI. 

·   Tuesday’s game will be the sixth against a ranked opponent for USF this year. The Bulls are 4-1 against ranked competition and defeated then No. 3 Florida State on Feb. 21.

·   Junior Kevin Merrell (Odessa, Fla.) returned to the lineup on Friday after missing six games. He started the ECU series going 0-for-5, but finished 7-for-10 with four runs, a triple, two RBI and his third lead-off homer of the year in game two. 

·   Merrell remains atop the league with a .409 average to sit fourth in the nation.

·   Junior Duke Stunkel Jr. (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) now sits second in the league with a .368 average.

·   Freshman D.J. Roberts (Jacksonville) will make his eighth start of the year on Tuesday. Roberts is coming off one of his best starts two weeks ago against Stetson when he logged 4.0 scoreless innings. 

Key Stats 

·   The Bulls’ pitching staff leads the country in strikeouts per nine innings (10.6). The staff ranks sixth in hits allowed per nine innings, fifth in WHIP and sixth in team ERA entering Tuesday. 

·   The USF offense leads the conference with a .303 team average and a .442 slugging percentage.

·   Both Merrell and sophomore Joe Genord (Lake Worth, Fla.) went 3-for-4 against the Gators last season with a RBI apiece.

·   Senior Mark Savarese (Palm City, Fla.) tossed 2.2 no-hit innings against Florida in 2015 with two strikeouts.

·   The Bulls have tallied double-digit hits 27 times this season.

[NewEnglandBull]

Game is in the sec channel for those with direct tv or ESPN3

[Triple B]

5 minutes ago, NewEnglandBull said:

Game is in the sec channel for those with direct tv or ESPN3

I've got it with Spectrum but not sure if it's part of an upgraded pkg, though ...

[Breedwell]

2 minutes ago, Triple B said:

I've got it with Spectrum but not sure if it's part of an upgraded pkg, though ...

If you have the step up from the standard package (so the package that includes like channels in the 100's +), you probably have it that way. 

 

The same package with CBSSN, and The Splat.

[Ricky the Bull]

5 hours ago, Brad said:

Series History

Tuesday marks the 85th meeting between the Bulls and Gators. USF last defeated Florida in 2012 - a 5-3 victory in Gainesville - and has defeated the Gators 24 times.  

A nice way of presenting a 24-60 series record.

Edited May 9, 2017 by Ricky the Bull

[charsibb]

Huge game, hope Coach goes all out to win this. Screw the rotation, Gut the Gators!!!!!!!!

[Triple B]

4 hours ago, Breedwell said:

If you have the step up from the standard package (so the package that includes like channels in the 100's +), you probably have it that way. 

 

The same package with CBSSN, and The Splat.

Just went to set up to record and my SEC Network has Indiana/Kentucky baseball. My have to try and watch live on the Trey ...

[Ionbull]

1 hour ago, charsibb said:

Huge game, hope Coach goes all out to win this. Screw the rotation, Gut the Gators!!!!!!!!

[Yogi]

7 hours ago, Triple B said:

Just went to set up to record and my SEC Network has Indiana/Kentucky baseball. My have to try and watch live on the Trey ...

It's sec+ network.   

[NCBull]

Didn't realize we were 4-1 against ranked competition...good vibes for tonight.