Game Info: Bulls vs Tulane

[BrassBulls12]

 

Both teams are coming with a 2-1 conference record.  But Tulane is 11-10 overall and 1-8 on the road. Lets take advantage of the home field. 

[Brad]

USF ATHLETICS GoUSFBulls.com

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Matchup: USF (18-8, 2-1 The American) vs. Tulane (11-15, 2-1 The American) 
Dates: Thursday, March 29 – Saturday, March 31
Times: 7 p.m. | 6:30 p.m. | 1 p.m.

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

Bulls Get Back to League Action, Host Tulane for Three 
Head coach Billy Mohl will face his alma mater as a lead skipper for the first time  

 

TAMPA, MARCH 28, 2018 – The University of South Florida baseball team is seeking its sixth-straight series win when it returns to league play for a three-game series against Tulane beginning Thursday at 7 p.m.

The Bulls (18-8) dropped a Tuesday matchup against a Stetson team that was ranked in multiple polls, 5-3. Senior Duke Stunkel Jr. (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) went 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Coco Montes (Miami) was on base three times and scored two runs. Junior Alec Wisely(Jacksonville) pitched three scoreless inning out of the bullpen.

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 to open conference play and David Villar (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) hit .385 with two doubles and three runs over the weekend.

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

Lefty All-American Shane McClanahan (Cape Coral, Fla.) will start Thursday and look to shake off his most recent outing against UConn, in which he allowed six runs in the second inning. Prior to that, McClanahan had set a program record for 31.2 consecutive innings having not allowed an earned run. He sits second nationally with 61 strikeouts and is fifth with 15.84 K’s per nine innings.

Righty Peter Strzelecki (Lake Worth, Fla.) will start Friday and sophomore right hander Collin Sullivan(Randolph, Mass.) will start Saturday.  

Head coach Billy Mohl will face his alma mater for the first time as lead skipper on Thursday. Mohl was a standout four-year member of the Green Wave baseball team, setting the school single-season and career record for fewest walks-per-nine-inning average. The righty went 9-0 as a senior, becoming just the second regular starter in Tulane history to go undefeated. He was a part of Tulane’s 2005 College World Series team that earned the No. 1 national seed in the tournament.

SERIES HISTORY

Tulane leads the all-time series with the Bulls 32-22. USF defeated Tulane in the conference tournament last season, 7-6, and took the final game of a three-game series in New Orleans. Prior to that, Tulane had won seven-straight in the series.

SCOUTING REPORT

The Green Wave (11-15) also enter the second weekend of league play having lost a midweek game after taking 2-of-3 from Cincinnati at home. Tulane is 10-7 at home but just 1-8 on the road, though it has played road series at Ole Miss, Long Beach State and contest at LSU.

Tulane is led offensively by infielder Jonathan Artigues, batting .330 with 21 runs and six doubles. Kody Hoese is hitting .315 and preseason all-conference selection Grant Witherspoon is batting .302 with a team-high eight doubles, four homers and 20 RBI.

The Green Wave will start three right handers this weekend. Kaleb Roper (2-3, 4.40 ERA, 28 K) will go Thursday, Ben White (0-1, 4.65 ERA, 19 K) willstart Friday and Keagan Gillies (2-3, 2.56 ERA, 31 K) will get the nod Sunday.  

NOTA-BULLS

·   Villar still leads the Bulls and sits third in the conference with a .379 average. His 13 doubles on the year are fourth in the nation.

·   USF leads the country with 76 doubles and leads the nation with 14 triples on the year.

·   The Bulls are tops in the conference with a .466 slugging percentage, a .295 batting average and in scoring (6.8 runs per game). 

·   Montes is hitting .410 over the last 10 games and Stunkel Jr. is hitting .383 with six doubles over that span.

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

[chapelbull]

They have played one heck of a schedule so far especially on the road.  Generally they are a solid program.

[Brad]

USF ATHLETICS GoUSFBulls.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Web Link: https://bit.ly/2pQ0RHc

Bulls Threaten Late, Drop Opener to Green Wave

USF had the winning run at the plate twice in the ninth
 

TAMPA, MARCH 28, 2018 – The University of South Florida baseball team got a runner to second down by one in the ninth, but ultimately dropped the series opener to Tulane, 3-2.  

The Bulls (18-9, 2-2 The American) gave lefty All-American Shane McClanahan (Cape Coral, Fla.) a 1-0 lead in the first at-bat of the third, as juniorGarrett Zech (Naples, Fla.) drilled an inside-the-park homer off the centerfield wall. The speedster jetted around the bases for his second home run of the season.

The Green Wave (12-15, 3-1 The American) tied things up in the top of the fourth on four-straight singles. Tulane then scored two in the fifth to lead 3-1. 

Coco Montes (Miami) led off the sixth with double down left field line, but was left at second. Then Kyle Phillips (Orlando) doubled in the eighth, Montes walked and the two both got into scoring position with one out, but were left on.

Joe Genord (Lake Worth, Fla.) led off the ninth with a single up the middle, advanced to second on a field pickoff attempt and then third on the throwing error. JD Dutka (Suwanee, Ga.) hit a sac fly to center, making it 3-2. Chris Chatfield(Riverview, Fla.) singled in the next at-bat and got to second with one, but Tulane was able to hold on for the win. 

Key Stats 

5 – Junior lefty Kevin King (Orlando) struck out a season-high five in 3.0 scoreless innings.

12 – McClanahan went 6.0 innings, surrendering five hits and three runs (one earned) with 12 strikeouts. 

Notables

·   Genord and Chatfield led the Bulls with two hits each.

Up Next

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

[Brad]

Let's get this one tonight!!

 

 

[BrassBulls12]

Need a big start from Pete tonight. Gotta pull out this series. 

[BrassBulls12]

 

 

[Brad]

Bats are going off.  Genord two HRs.  Zech and Phillips one each.  

11-0 Top 4.  

Breakout

[Brad]

Thanks to USF, if anyone wants to hear that explosive 2nd inning, here it is:

 

 

 

 

[Brad]

USF ATHLETICS GoUSFBulls.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Web Link: https://bit.ly/2pQ0RHc

Offense Rakes as Bulls Even Series with Tulane 

USF tallied eight runs and nine hits with three homers in the second

TAMPA, MARCH 30, 2018 – The University of South Florida baseball team recorded 18 hits and hit four home runs to trump Tulane 14-3 Friday night, evening the three game series.    

The Bulls (19-9, 3-2 The American) took a 1-0 lead after the first, then began one of the biggest innings in program history with back-to-back homers from juniors Kyle Phillips (Orlando) and Garrett Zech (Naples, Fla.) in the second.

After USF loaded the bags, David Villar (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) singled to left, scoring Coco Montes (Miami) and Tyler Dietrich (Naples, Fla.), making it 5-0 with no outs. In the next at-bat, Joe Genord (Lake Worth, Fla.) crushed the third homer of the inning to center, scoring Villar and Duke Stunkel Jr. (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.), making it 8-0. The Bulls added one more and led the Green Wave (12-16, 3-2 The American) 9-0 after the second.

After Stunkel Jr. walked in the third, Genord added to his monster day with his second homer and seventh of the season, drilling one off the scoreboard. USF had four singles and three more runs in the fourth, capped by another two-RBI single from Villar to make it 14-0.

Tulane finally got on the board with three runs in the seventh. But the cushion was plenty for righty Peter Strzelecki (Lake Worth, Fla.) to work with and help give the Bulls a nice bounce back win.

Key Stats

9 – All nine in the USF starting lineup recorded hits. Six Bulls had multiple hits.

14 – The Bulls had 14 at-bats in the second inning. USF’s 14 runs marked the ninth time it scored double-digit runs this year. The 14 runs are the second-most USF has scored in American Athletic Conference play.

18 – The 18 hits were the most for USF since 2016. It was the 17^th time the Bulls recorded double-digit hits this season.

2 – Genord also hit two home runs last season at Florida on May 9 in a 15-10 win.

Notables

·         Phillips had a career-high four hits, going 4-for-5 with two runs and two RBI.

·         Villar went 3-for-4 with four RBI.

·         Genord finished with five RBI and Zech, Dietrich and Stunkel Jr. each matched him with two hits apiece.

·         Strzelecki went 6.0 strong innings allowing just four hits. He struck out eight.

Up Next

The Bulls and Green Wave conclude the series in the rubber match, Saturday at 1 p.m.
 

– #GoBulls –