A Five-Run Sixth Gives Bulls Win to Even UConn Series

BrassBulls12 · March 25, 2018

A Five-Run Sixth Gives Bulls Win to Even UConn Series

TAMPA, MARCH 24, 2018 – The University of South Florida baseball team scored the final six runs, including five in the sixth inning to knock off UConn 8-4 Friday, evening the opening series of conference play.

The Huskies (11-8, 1-1 The American) and Bulls (17-7, 1-1 The American) each plated two in the second inning. UConn added runs in the third and fifth to lead 4-2 heading into the sixth.

Junior Garrett Zech (Naples, Fla.) got the inning started with leadoff triple to center, then Tyler Dietrich (Naples, Fla.) walked, which forced the Huskies to go to the bullpen. Zech scored on the next at-bat, but it was a double play, emptying the bags with two gone. David Villar (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) and Duke Stunkel Jr. (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) each singled, then Joe Genord(Lake Worth, Fla.) doubled to right, giving the Bulls their first lead of the weekend, 5-4.

The two-out rally continued, as Chris Chatfield (Riverview, Fla.) tripled to right center, scoring Genord. Then JD Dutka(Suwanee, Ga.) singled through the left, making it 7-4. USF added another in the seventh, giving the bullpen plenty of insurance.

Key Stats

3 – The Bulls had three triples in the game. Chatfield hit his fourth and Zech hit his sixth.
7 – USF had a balanced attack on offense, as seven different players scored.
10 – The Bulls had 10 hits in the game, the 15^th time they've done that this year.

Notables

Junior Coco Montes (Miami) went 2-for-4 with a run, RBI and his first career triple.
Stunkel Jr. also went 2-for-4 with a run and a RBI.
Redshirt senior righty Peter Strzelecki (Lake Worth, Fla.) got the win to improve to 3-1 on the year. He went 6.0 innings and struck out five.
Richie Cruz (Miami) and Kevin King (Orlando) combined to throw the final 3.0 innings, allowing just three hits with two strikeouts each.