Bulls Baseball and AAC Tournament

[79 Bull]

I go to one Rays game each month and it’s this Thursday at 1pm! Oh well, I’ll watch our Bulls on my phone.

GO BULLS!

[BullyPulpit]

1 minute ago, Dave_Glaser said:

Didn't fold. Credit where it's due. If we can find ANY PITCHING AT ALL, we have a lineup that could make this week interesting.

He might not be available for Thursday, but Brown looked solid out there in relief. Lots of soft contact and, aside from the 2 walks, just threw strikes. Closed out the last 2 innings allowing no hits. 

[Dave_Glaser]

If you're going to win any tournament, you need to start 2-0. Today is a start. At least they've given themselves a chance.

[olafberserker]

3 hours ago, Dave_Glaser said:

One-two and BBQ coming. Then it's decision time.

 

[Brad]

(Ben Solomon/American Athletic Conference)

• BOX SCORE

Score

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	R	H	E
South Florida	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	6	0	1	12	19	0
East Carolina	2	1	0	0	0	0	6	0	2	0	0	11	14	1

W: Brown, Ethan (2-5) L: RITCHIE, Erik (1-2)

Game Recap: Baseball | May 23, 2023

USF Baseball rallies to knock off top-seeded ECU in AAC Tournament opener

The Bulls scored six runs in the top of the ninth inning and outlasted the nationally-ranked Pirates in 11 innings, 12-11.

CLEARWATER (May 23, 2023) – The University of South Florida Bulls (20-37) staged a six-run rally in the top of the ninth inning against the top-seeded and No. 15-nationally ranked ECU (41-16) to eventually defeat the Pirates in 11 innings, 12-11, in the opening round of the American Baseball Championship at BayCare Ballpark.

The Bulls and Pirates met for the fourth straight game after ECU swept USF in Tampa last weekend to claim the AAC regular season championship.

South Florida matched a season high with 19 hits on Tuesday as every Bull tallied at least one knock in the comeback victory. Rafael Betancourt (Deltona), Drew Brutcher (Lakeland), Travis Sankovich (Uniontown, Pa.), Eric Snow (Forsyth, Ga.) and Ben Rozenblum (Coral Springs) each drove in two runs.

Sankovich tied the game in the top of the ninth inning as USF exploded for six runs on eight hits in the frame and Brutcher drove in the winning run in the 11th inning.

The Bulls' six-run rally in the ninth erased what started as a 9-3 deficit after seven frames as USF scored eight unanswered runs over the final two innings of regulation. South Florida led 11-9 heading to the bottom of the ninth only to see the Pirates knot the score once again with a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning to force extra innings.

ECU's Ryley Johnson made a spectacular diving catch in the right-center field gap to rob Joaquin Monque (Weston) of extra bases and two RBI to finally end the top of the ninth inning to set up the Pirates' game-tying homer.

After a scoreless 10th inning, Brutcher and the Bulls broke through after Sankovich led off the 11th inning with a single and came around to score the eventual game-winning run.

USF entered the ninth inning 3-for-16 in the ballgame with runners in scoring position and finished 10-for-28 after the clutch rally ensued.

"That was a marathon, but I'm really proud of the heart our guys showed to pull that out," said head coach Billy Mohl. "This season obviously hasn't gone the way we wanted it to, and there were multiple chances in that game for our guys to phone it in, but they refuse to quit. We put together good at-bats all day, but left a lot of opportunities and runners on base before we finally got the big hits late to come away with the win."

It was a back-and-forth affair from the opening frame after South Florida took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first and ECU immediately answered with back-to-back solo homers to tie the game in the bottom of the inning. Betancourt (Deltona) staked USF to the first lead with a two-run single.

The Pirates took their first lead with a run in the bottom of the second inning and an RBI-groundout by Sankovich knotted the score again in the top of the sixth.

Still tied at 3-3 heading to the bottom of the seventh inning, the Pirates broke the game open. ECU pulled ahead 5-3 and proceeded to string together four straight hits with two outs to add four more runs and conclude the inning with a 9-3 advantage.

USF owned three-run leads in each of the first two games of last weekend's series over ECU, but both times the Pirates rallied with a big inning late to pull away with victories. The Bulls did not allow that big inning to dictate the outcome on Tuesday.

Marcus Brodil (Dunedin) launched his first home run of the season to lead off the eighth inning and Snow drove in a run later in the frame to make it a 9-5 affair heading to the ninth.

Ethan Brown (Winter Garden) was the winning pitcher after tossing two scoreless frames in extra innings. Brown, who missed three weeks late in the season a shoulder injury, picked up his first victory since twirling seven shutout innings with 12 strikeouts at UCF on March 31st.

Hunter Mink (Palm Harbor) turned in five strong innings out of the bullpen in relief of starter Jack Cebert (Tampa). H. Mink allowed three runs on four hits with five strikeouts. He entered the game with the bases loaded and only one out in the second inning and only yielded one of those runs.

Notable

 

• Eighteen of USF's 19 hits were singles. The Bulls ranked fifth in the AAC in slugging this season (.432).
• Boser went 1-for-3 on Tuesday with two walks and two HBP. He extended his career high hitting (14) and on-base streak (18).
• Brodil, Rozenblum and Snow each recorded three hits. Snow's 19 multi-hit games this season lead the Bulls.
• Tuesday was the second time this season USF has overcome a six-run deficit (3/17 vs. Army). The Bulls also overcame a five-run deficit in the ninth inning at nationally-ranked Florida this season – USF used a seven-run rally in that victory.
• Tuesday was the Bulls' first extra-inning win of the season (1-4).
• USF has notched three wins over Top 25 opponents this year.          

  

Up Next

The Bulls advance into the winner's bracket of the tournament and have a day off on Wednesday before returning to play on Thursday, May 25 against UCF at 1 p.m.

[Big_Hairy_Bull]

5 hours ago, Dave_Glaser said:

Looks like ECU is going to pitching by committee and hoping to slip past us while saving their best arms. Their starter today only made three starts this season. Maybe we can make that backfire, but if we do, we've already used Cebert and Hunter Mink. BTW: Great job so far by Mink. Cebert only lasted an inning and a third.

They actually ended up throwing all of their top pitchers. The only reason they started the one pitcher was because he was the most rested. To contrary belief, this was a huge game for ECU. They were playing to be a host seed in the regionals. Losing to us today, pretty much ruins them being a host. Their RPI dropped to 28 by losing to us today. Just clearing up those who thought this wasn't a big game for ECU 

[Brad]

I'm glad it hurt.

[Outlaw]

49 minutes ago, Brad said:

(Ben Solomon/American Athletic Conference)

• BOX SCORE

Score

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	R	H	E
South Florida	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	6	0	1	12	19	0
East Carolina	2	1	0	0	0	0	6	0	2	0	0	11	14	1

W: Brown, Ethan (2-5) L: RITCHIE, Erik (1-2)

Game Recap: Baseball | May 23, 2023

USF Baseball rallies to knock off top-seeded ECU in AAC Tournament opener

The Bulls scored six runs in the top of the ninth inning and outlasted the nationally-ranked Pirates in 11 innings, 12-11.

CLEARWATER (May 23, 2023) – The University of South Florida Bulls (20-37) staged a six-run rally in the top of the ninth inning against the top-seeded and No. 15-nationally ranked ECU (41-16) to eventually defeat the Pirates in 11 innings, 12-11, in the opening round of the American Baseball Championship at BayCare Ballpark.

The Bulls and Pirates met for the fourth straight game after ECU swept USF in Tampa last weekend to claim the AAC regular season championship.

South Florida matched a season high with 19 hits on Tuesday as every Bull tallied at least one knock in the comeback victory. Rafael Betancourt (Deltona), Drew Brutcher (Lakeland), Travis Sankovich (Uniontown, Pa.), Eric Snow (Forsyth, Ga.) and Ben Rozenblum (Coral Springs) each drove in two runs.

Sankovich tied the game in the top of the ninth inning as USF exploded for six runs on eight hits in the frame and Brutcher drove in the winning run in the 11th inning.

The Bulls' six-run rally in the ninth erased what started as a 9-3 deficit after seven frames as USF scored eight unanswered runs over the final two innings of regulation. South Florida led 11-9 heading to the bottom of the ninth only to see the Pirates knot the score once again with a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning to force extra innings.

ECU's Ryley Johnson made a spectacular diving catch in the right-center field gap to rob Joaquin Monque (Weston) of extra bases and two RBI to finally end the top of the ninth inning to set up the Pirates' game-tying homer.

After a scoreless 10th inning, Brutcher and the Bulls broke through after Sankovich led off the 11th inning with a single and came around to score the eventual game-winning run.

USF entered the ninth inning 3-for-16 in the ballgame with runners in scoring position and finished 10-for-28 after the clutch rally ensued.

"That was a marathon, but I'm really proud of the heart our guys showed to pull that out," said head coach Billy Mohl. "This season obviously hasn't gone the way we wanted it to, and there were multiple chances in that game for our guys to phone it in, but they refuse to quit. We put together good at-bats all day, but left a lot of opportunities and runners on base before we finally got the big hits late to come away with the win."

It was a back-and-forth affair from the opening frame after South Florida took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first and ECU immediately answered with back-to-back solo homers to tie the game in the bottom of the inning. Betancourt (Deltona) staked USF to the first lead with a two-run single.

The Pirates took their first lead with a run in the bottom of the second inning and an RBI-groundout by Sankovich knotted the score again in the top of the sixth.

Still tied at 3-3 heading to the bottom of the seventh inning, the Pirates broke the game open. ECU pulled ahead 5-3 and proceeded to string together four straight hits with two outs to add four more runs and conclude the inning with a 9-3 advantage.

USF owned three-run leads in each of the first two games of last weekend's series over ECU, but both times the Pirates rallied with a big inning late to pull away with victories. The Bulls did not allow that big inning to dictate the outcome on Tuesday.

Marcus Brodil (Dunedin) launched his first home run of the season to lead off the eighth inning and Snow drove in a run later in the frame to make it a 9-5 affair heading to the ninth.

Ethan Brown (Winter Garden) was the winning pitcher after tossing two scoreless frames in extra innings. Brown, who missed three weeks late in the season a shoulder injury, picked up his first victory since twirling seven shutout innings with 12 strikeouts at UCF on March 31st.

Hunter Mink (Palm Harbor) turned in five strong innings out of the bullpen in relief of starter Jack Cebert (Tampa). H. Mink allowed three runs on four hits with five strikeouts. He entered the game with the bases loaded and only one out in the second inning and only yielded one of those runs.

Notable

 

• Eighteen of USF's 19 hits were singles. The Bulls ranked fifth in the AAC in slugging this season (.432).
• Boser went 1-for-3 on Tuesday with two walks and two HBP. He extended his career high hitting (14) and on-base streak (18).
• Brodil, Rozenblum and Snow each recorded three hits. Snow's 19 multi-hit games this season lead the Bulls.
• Tuesday was the second time this season USF has overcome a six-run deficit (3/17 vs. Army). The Bulls also overcame a five-run deficit in the ninth inning at nationally-ranked Florida this season – USF used a seven-run rally in that victory.
• Tuesday was the Bulls' first extra-inning win of the season (1-4).
• USF has notched three wins over Top 25 opponents this year.          

  

Up Next

The Bulls advance into the winner's bracket of the tournament and have a day off on Wednesday before returning to play on Thursday, May 25 against UCF at 1 p.m.

Insane upset  and congrats

Edited May 24, 2023 by Outlaw

[Cpa_bull1990]

Great win by the Bulls!

Keep the magic working vs UCF on Thursday!

[Dave_Glaser]

13 hours ago, olafberserker said:

 

You're a hoot. Yesterday didn't change anything. There's still a decision to be made when the season ends.