Bulls Dominate Game Two, Split Saturday’s Twin Bill With Lions

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Bulls Dominate Game Two, Split Saturday’s Twin Bill With Lions 
USF outscored Columbia 11-4 on the day and tallied 11 hits in game two

 

TAMPA, FLA., MARCH 3, 2018 – The University of South Florida baseball team narrowly dropped the opening game of Saturday’s doubleheader with Columbia before controlling the second game to earn a split with an 8-0 win in the night cap. 

The Bulls (6-5) were down, 1-0 in the bottom half of the third in game one before the left side of the infield provided support for righty Peter Strzelecki(Lake Worth, Fla.). Junior shortstop Coco Montes(Miami) doubled to right, scoring classmate Garrett Zech (Naples, Fla.), then third baseman David Villar (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) crushed a double to left, giving USF a 2-1 edge.

With no runs coming across over the next three innings, USF still led by one heading into the final inning of the day’s first contest. But the Lions (1-6) scored three in the top half to take a 4-2 lead. Montes had another RBI double, making it 4-3 with two outs, but Columbia escaped with the win.

The Bulls were the ones with the early lead in game two, as JD Dutka (Suwanee, Ga.) sacrificed Chris Chatfield (Riverview, Fla.) in from third in the second. Pitching held strong for the next three innings, but the USF offense came alive in innings 6-8 with seven hits and seven runs to blow the game open. The Bulls’ arms allowed just four base runners in the last five innings to solidify an 8-0 win and split the twin bill.

Key Stats

3 – Kyle Phillips (Orlando) went 3-for-5 with two runs and a RBI in game two. He went 3-for-5 in Friday night’s win as well.

4 – Montes went 4-for-7 on the day with two hits in each game. He had three doubles, two runs scored and two RBI.

6 – Villar hit his team-leading sixth double in game two. He had a pair of doubles on the day and totaled two RBI and a run. 

11 – The Bulls recorded 11 hits in the second game, the sixth time they have reached double-digit hits this year.

 

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