Game Info: Bulls vs Hatters

[Brad]

USF ATHLETICS GoUSFBulls.com

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Matchup: USF (18-7) vs. Stetson (19-5) 
Dates: Tuesday, March 27
Times: 6:30 p.m.

Location: Tampa, Fla., | USF Baseball Stadium (3,211) 
Follow: Stats | Listen | Watch (Facebook Live)

Bulls and Hatters Meet For 170^th Time Tuesday In Tampa 
USF Has won 11 of the last 12 games and opened conference play taking 2-of-3 from UConn over the weekend  

 

TAMPA, MARCH 26, 2018 – The University of South Florida baseball team hosts Stetson Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. 

The Bulls (18-7) had a nice start to conference play, taking 2-of-3 from UConn for their fifth-straight series win. Junior JD Dutka (Suwanee, Ga.) hit .500 last week with four doubles, a triple and six runs scored. He was named to the American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll on Monday.

Junior catcher Tyler Dietrich (Naples, Fla.) hit .500 against UConn and David Villar (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) hit .385 with two doubles and three runs.

USF’s bullpen was magical over the weekend, combining for 11.0 innings, allowing just eight hits and one unearned run with nine strikeouts.

Sophomore Baron Stuart (Okeechobee, Fla.) will start for the Bulls Tuesday. 

SERIES HISTORY

The Bulls hold a slim 85-84 edge in the all-time series against the Hatters, having played each year going back to 1966. USF leads the series in Tampa, 46-41. The two sides each won on the road in last year's home-and-home. 

SCOUTING REPORT

Stetson has had a strong season at 19-5, opening the year 14-1 before going 5-4 in the last nine games. Stetson is receiving votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll and ranked in the NCBWA poll. The Hatters played their first road games of the season over the weekend and dropped 2-of-3 at Maryland.

The Hatters boast one of the best pitching staffs in the country, sitting third nationally with a 2.09 ERA. They lead the nation allowing 5.11 hits per nine innings. Righty Joey Gonzalez will make his fifth start Tuesday and sits second in the country with a 0.31 ERA in 29.1 innings. He has nine walks and 30 strikeouts. Closer Brooks Wilson has a 0.44 ERA in 12 appearances with nine saves. He also has 30 strikeouts on the year. 

Wilson also hits and is batting a team-high .345, though he only has 55 at-bats in 17 games. He leads Stetson with seven doubles. Jacob Koos is batting .295 with a team-best 20 runs scored.  

NOTA-BULLS

·   Villar still leads the Bulls and sits third in the conference with a .391 average. His 13 doubles on the year are third in the nation.

·   USF leads the country with 74 doubles and now leads the nation with 14 triples on the year.

·   The Bulls are tops in the conference with a .472 slugging percentage, a .297 batting average and in scoring (7.0 runs per game). 

·   Junior Garrett Zech (Naples, Fla.) hit his sixth triple over the weekend, ranking him second in the country.

[BrassBulls12]

Going to need the lineup to stay hot. We can jump on them quick and avoid the closer. 

[chapelbull]

Stetson is usually a solid team.  This is only their 4th game on the road though

[BrassBulls12]

 

[Brad]

I was delayed getting onto the radio broadcast thanks to the 3 hour time difference and a busy last few hours working for the man.  I started listening top of 7.  Sounded like we might not have had a good night sleep or something.  We made a few errors, left guys on base and had baserunning miscues...just an odd assortment on maladies vs. Stetson.  Made me think I'll get over it with a sweep of Tulane Thur-Sat.

Any of you happen to watch or listen?  

[Brad]

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Bulls Drop Tuesday Clash with Stetson, 5-3

Duke Stunkel Jr. had a game-high three hits

TAMPA, MARCH 27, 2018 – The University of South Florida baseball team dropped Tuesday’s midweek tilt to Stetson, 5-3. 

The Hatters (20-5) scored two in the first on three hits and left the bases stranded. The Bulls (18-8, 2-1 The American) answered, quickly cutting into the lead in the bottom half. Senior outfielder Duke Stunkel Jr. (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) doubled to the wall in the left center, moving Coco Montes (Miami) to third, who scored on a wild pitch in the next at-bat.

Pitching for both sides settled down from there, as the next 5.0 innings were scoreless. In the seventh, Stetson put together a two-out rally, adding to the lead to make it 4-1.

After the Hatters made it 5-1 in the eighth, USF trimmed the deficit again in the bottom half. Like the first inning, the top of the order of Montes and Stunkel Jr. got the offense going with a walk and a single, respectively.

Junior David Villar (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) hit a sac fly to right in the next at-bat, bringing in Montes. After Joe Genord (Lake Worth, Fla.) singled, JD Dutka (Suwanee, Ga.) brought in Stunkel Jr. with a single to left. 

Tyler Dietrich (Naples, Fla.) singled with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but it was all USF would get. 

Key Stats

3 – Stunkel Jr. went 3-for-4 with his 10^th double of the year.

3.0 – Junior righty Alec Wisely (Jacksonville) pitched 3.0 scoreless innings, allowing just one walk.

Notables

·         Freshman Graham Hoffman (Tampa) and sophomore Carson Ragsdale (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) combined to pitch the final 2.1 scoreless innings.

·         The Bulls outhit the Hatters 8-5.

·         Montes scored two runs and was on base three times (one hit, two walks).

 

Quotables

Head coach Billy Mohl Wisely’s outing out of the bullpen:
“Wisely looked good. His stuff was a lot sharper, his velocity was up and he did what we needed him to do when we brought him in.

Head coach Billy Mohl on Duke Stunkel Jr.’s bat of late:
“Duke is a huge part of our offense. He’s getting it going at the plate and is starting to look like the old Duke that we’re used to seeing.”

Up Next

The Bulls resume conference play with a three-game series in Tampa against Tulane starting Thursday at 7 p.m.

 

– #GoBulls –

[BrassBulls12]

9 hours ago, Brad said:

I was delayed getting onto the radio broadcast thanks to the 3 hour time difference and a busy last few hours working for the man.  I started listening top of 7.  Sounded like we might not have had a good night sleep or something.  We made a few errors, left guys on base and had baserunning miscues...just an odd assortment on maladies vs. Stetson.  Made me think I'll get over it with a sweep of Tulane Thur-Sat.

Any of you happen to watch or listen?  

I wasn't able to watch or listen as we played last night as well, but I got the same impression, just lost focus in the later innings and couldn't recover. 

[BrassBulls12]