Series Info and Discussion: Bulls at ECU

[Brad]

USF ATHLETICS GoUSFBulls.com

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Matchup: USF (21-12, 5-4 The American) at No. 7 ECU (25-8, 4-2 The American) 
Dates: Friday, April 13 – Sunday, April 15
Times: 6:30 p.m. | 4 p.m. | noon

Location: Greenville, N.C. | Clark-LeClair Stadium (5,000)
Follow: Stats | Listen | Watch

 

USF Begins Series at No. 7 ECU Friday 
The Bulls have won nine of the last 12 meetings with the Pirates and swept them last year in Tampa

 

TAMPA, April 12, 2018 – The University of South Florida baseball team is on the road for a three-game series at No. 7 East Carolina, beginning Friday at 6:30 p.m. in Greenville, N.C. 

The Bulls (21-12, 5-4 The American) fell at Stetson Wednesday afternoon, 5-2. Junior David Villar(Pembroke Pines, Fla.) hit .500 over the weekend in Houston with two runs scored, two homers and six RBI. He had two home runs in a game for the first time in his career to help lead the Bulls in Friday’s win.

Villar went 2-for-4 at Stetson with two doubles and now has 16 on the season to rank fourth nationally. Classmate Chris Chatfield (Riverview, Fla.) also went 2-for-4 in the game. 

The Bulls will again go with the same weekend rotation. Lefty All-American Shane McClanahan(Cape Coral, Fla.) will start Friday night. The redshirt sophomore was one of only 40 players in the country named to the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List earlier in the week. He sits second in the country with 81 strikeouts and leads the nation with 15.40 K’s per nine innings. 

Redshirt senior righty Peter Strzelecki (Lake Worth, Fla.) will get the start Saturday. He had the longest outing of any Bull at Houston last weekend. Strzelecki tossed 8.1 innings and allowed just one run. Sophomore Collin Sullivan (Randolph, Mass.) will start Sunday. 

SERIES HISTORY

The Pirates hold a 16-11 edge in the all-time series, but USF has dominated recently, winning nine of the last 12 meetings. USF swept ECU at home last year before falling to the Pirates in the second game of The American Conference Championships. The Bulls have defeated ECU in Greenville three times in nine tries. 

SCOUTING REPORT

The Pirates have been climbing the rankings since taking 2-of-3 from a top-10 UNC squad Feb. 23-25. Sitting at 25-7, ECU has a win over the College of Charleston, a sweep against Maryland, 2-of-3 at a then-No. 20 UCF and 2-of-3 from a then-No. 18 Wichita St. 

ECU’s starting pitching has been stout this season. A trio of right handers will tote the rubber this weekend. Chris Holba is 7-0 on the year with a 1.33 ERA, ranking him 21^st in the country. Tyler Smith is 5-0 and will start Saturday with his 1.11 ERA, the eighth-best mark in the nation. Trey Benton will start Sunday and leads the team with 46 strikeouts.

The offense has been led by freshman outfielder Bryant Packard, who sits second in the league with a .400 average. He leads ECU with 26 RBI, seven doubles and seven homers. Brady Lloyd is hitting .396 with 27 runs scored, Jake Washer is hitting .330 with six doubles, four home runs and 24 RBI and Connor Litton is batting .322 with seven home runs as well. 


NOTA-BULLS

·   USF is third in the country with 88 doubles and 14 triples. 

·   The Bulls are tops in the conference with a .462 slugging percentage and 335 hits.

·   Junior Joe Genord (Lake Worth, Fla.) leads The American with eight home runs.

[BrassBulls12]

Really need a series win here, but I would accept grabbing one. just can't really expect more. ECU is a legit Omaha team. 

Edited April 13, 2018 by BrassBulls12

[BrassBulls12]

 

 

[BrassBulls12]

 

 

[Brad]

Looking forward to putting on the earbuds and listening to this while watching my son play a DH.  Gotta get moving after this Spring Game.

Strzelecki has been solid.  We need this one today (and tomorrow).

[BrassBulls12]

Got a great start going.

[BrassBulls12]

the HR was a good AB. He battled and then went down and then squared up up a good pitch down in the zone. 

[BrassBulls12]

We knocked out their starter early. Their bullpen will have to work. Could help us on Sunday. 

[BrassBulls12]

Phillips just had a HR robbed on what could be the play of the year. 

[Brad]

USF ATHLETICS GoUSFBulls.com

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Bulls Rout Pirates to Even Series

Peter Strzelecki tossed a complete game and the offense plated 13 runs
 

GREENVILLE, N.C., APRIL 14, 2018 – Redshirt senior Peter Strzelecki (Lake Worth, Fla.) threw a complete game and the offense flexed its muscles, as the University of South Florida baseball team evened the weekend series at No. 7 East Carolina with Saturday’s 13-1 win.  

The Bulls (22-13, 6-5 The American) jumped out to an early lead for the second-straight game, scoring three runs in top of the first. It turned out to be plenty for Strzelecki, who was masterful and only allowed one run to the Pirates (26-8, 5-3 The American) on a solo homer. 

The USF offense took a while to impose its will, as the visitors were clinging to a 3-1 edge in the seventh. After a David Villar (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) walk, Joe Genord (Lake Worth, Fla.) demolished a fastball, sending it into orbit in right center, making it 5-1.

The Bulls added two more in the eighth on a Coco Montes (Miami) homer with Kyle Phillips(Orlando) aboard, making it 9-1. In the top of the ninth, USF added to the outburst with six runs on just three hits, capped by Montes’ second blast of the day, a three-run shot. 

Key Stats 

16 – USF had 16 hits, the 19^th time it recorded double-digit hits this year.  

13 – USF’s 13 runs marked the 11^th time it scored double-digit runs this year.

9 – Strzelecki tossed the first complete game for any USF arm this season and the second of his career.

5 – Five Bulls had multiple hits.

4 – Phillips had a career-best four hits (4-for-5) with four singles.

1 – After issuing 10 walks to ECU last night, Strzelecki surrendered just one.

Notables

-   In Strzelecki’s last two games against the Pirates, he has combined for 17.1 innings pitched, allowed just eight hits, four runs (two earned) and two walks with 14 strikeouts. 

-   Montes hit his first two homers of the season and hit two in the same game for the first time in his career. He finished with five RBI and three runs.

-   Genord finished 2-for-3 with three runs and three RBI. He was on base four times.

-   Catcher Tyler Dietrich (Naples, Fla.) went 3-for-5 with a run and a RBI. 

Up Next

The Bulls and Pirates will have a rubber match to decide the weekend series beginning Sunday at 11 a.m. The game was originally scheduled for noon, but got bumped up an hour due to expected rain.