USF Baseball Game Notes

[Brad]

Courtesy USF SID Office

USF Bulls (2-2, 0-0 BIG EAST) at Jacksonville Dolphins (5-1, 0-0 A-Sun)

Date: Feb. 18-19

Location: Alexander Brest Field (1,500), Jacksonville, Fla.

Television: None

Radio: None

Record: USF dropped to 2-1 after a 4-3 loss to Jacksonville of Tuesday, Feb. 14.

Rankings: N/A

Live Stats: www.judolphins.com

Head Coach: Eddie Cardieri (Florida Southern ‘77) is 710-513 (.581) in his 21st season with the Bulls and 773-546 (.586) in his 23rd season overall.

More USF Information: USF assistant sports information director Paul Dodson can be reached by either (813) 974-4029 (office), (813) 426-6752 (cell) or e-mail pdodson@admin.usf.edu.

Team’s official web site: www.GoUSFBulls.com

More Jacksonville Information: Jacksonville baseball contact Josh Ellis can be reached by either (904) 256-7402 (office) or jellis1@ju.edu.

Team’s official web site: www.judolphins.com

The Series: Saturday’s contest between USF and Jacksonville will mark the 93rd meeting between the two teams with the series tied at 46-46. The last meeting between the Bulls and Dolphins resulted in a 4-3 win for Jacksonville on February 14, 2006 at Red McEwen Field.

Projected Starters

Game No. 5 - Saturday, Feb. 18 - 1 p.m.

USF - No. 10 Casey Hudspeth, junior, RHP (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 10 K)

Jacksonville - No. 27 Kyle DeVries, senior, LHP (2-0, 0.82 ERA, 4 K)

Game No. 6- Sunday, Feb. 19 - Noon

USF - No. 26 Daniel Thomas, sophomore, RHP (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 5 K)

Jacksonville - No. 44 Matt Dobbins, sophomore, LHP (1-0, 2.70 ERA, 14 K)

USF Travels to Jacksonville to Take on the Dolphins in a Two-Game Series

               Making its first road trip of the season, the University of South Florida baseball team (2-2) will travel to Jacksonville to take on the Dolphins (5-1) in a two-game series at Alexander Brest Field Feb. 18-19. The Bulls are coming off a one-run loss to Jacksonville (Tuesday, Feb. 14) and are looking get back above .500.

               Led by sophomore Dexter Butler (.500, 0 HR, 1 RBI), USF is hitting .215 through its first four games. Butler is coming off his third multiple-hit contest of the season, going 2-for-3 versus the Dolphins during Tuesday’s loss. Red-shirt freshman Mike Consolmagno had his best day as a Bull, going 2-for-4 with a run scored versus Jacksonville.

               USF’s pitching staff has recorded a 2.92 ERA n the season, striking out 45 batters and holding the opposition to a .223 batting average. Saturday’s starter Casey Hudspeth is coming off a strong outing to open the 2006 season. This past week’s “Louisville Slugger” National Pitcher of the Week struck out 10 Northwestern batters in six innings of action en route to his first win of the season. Sophomore Daniel Thomas (slated to get the start on Sunday) struck out five batter in his season debut, earning a “no-decision” in USF’s 2-0 (13) loss at the hands of the Wildcats (2/11).

               Jacksonville is led offensively by junior Justin Young, who is hitting .471. Young went 2-for-3 with a run scored versus the Bulls during Tuesday’s outing. Taking the mound for the Dolphins this weekend will be senior Kyle DeVries and sophomore Matt Dobbins. The two have combined for a 3-0 record and a 1.85 ERA while striking out 18 batters.

USF/Jacksonville Series Notes

               Saturday’s contest will mark the 93rd meeting between USF and Jacksonville.

               - The series is tied 46-46 all-time.  

               - The last meeting between USF and Jacksonville was on Feb. 14, 2006 at Red McEwen Field. The game resulted in a 4-3 win for JU.                                    

- Jacksonville is the first of two Atlantic Sun schools USF plays this season (Stetson).

               - Head Coach Eddie Cardieri holds a 32-32 record versus the Dolphins.

               - JU (92) is only one of five school that have played USF 90-or-more times.

No Sophomore Slump Here

               Sophomore Dexter Butler enters this weekend’s series batting .500 with a team-leading seven hits with two runs scored. The Key West, Fla., native leads the team in slugging percentage (.571) and on-base percentage (.611). During the first four games of the 2006 season, Butler has notched three multiple-hit contests.

Old Friends

               Entering Saturday’s game, USF and Jacksonville have met a total of 92 times with each squad earning 46 victories. JU is only the fifth team all-time to have played USF 90-or-more times. The Stetson Hatters have squared off against the Bulls more than any other school (139 times).

Hudspeth Named National Pitcher of the Week

               University of South Florida right-handed pitcher Casey Hudspeth has been named "Louisville Slugger's" National Player of the Week for the week ending Feb. 12 .

               In his 2006 debut, Hudspeth struck out 10 batters while walking none in five innings of action to earn his first victory of the season. The 10 strikeouts were just one shy of his career high (11, vs. Eastern Michigan, 2/18/05).  The Sarasota, Fla., native allowed just four hits over the five innings of action, holding Northwestern to a .182 batting average on the night.  Sixty-seven of Hudspeth's 102 total pitches on the night resulted in strikes.  The performance helped guide USF to it's fourth-straight season-opening victory.

Happy Birthday Coach

               On Sunday, Feb. 19, USF head coach Eddie Cardieri will turn 51 years old. In his 21st season at the helm of the USF baseball team, Cardieri has amassed a 710-513 record. Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Cardieri played high school ball at Bishop Barry High School (now St. Pete Catholic) before heading off to Florida Southern to earn a bachelor’s degree in physical education. He entered the Detroit Tigers farm system before beginning his coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of Florida. Twenty-seven years later, Cardieri is USF’s all-time winningest coach, rated in the top 30 active Division I coaches in victories and is a three-time conference Coach of the Year in three separate leagues.

Thomas Dominant In Season Debut

               Sophomore right-hander Daniel Thomas made the most of his first start in 2006, striking out five batters while allowing just three hits versus Northwestern (2/11). In six innings of action, Thomas held the Wildcats to a .150 batting average, allowing no runs and retiring 17 of the 23 batter he faced. On the afternoon, Thomas threw 87 pitch - 50 of which resulted in strikes.

Fernandez Makes the Most of First-Career Hit

               Freshman infielder Gus Fernandez registered his first-career hit in USF’s 9-8 win over Northwestern on Feb. 12. The hit was a solo home run over the right-center field fence. Fernandez, who made his first-collegiate start at second in the contest, took a 3-2 pitch in the bottom of the first over the fence to give USF a 2-0 lead.

Bulls Take Third-Straight Season-Opening Series

               With USF’s 9-8 win over Northwestern on Sunday (Feb. 12), the Bulls improved their season-opening streak of series wins to three.

               Prior to this season’s series win, USF swept Bethune-Cookman (3-0) to open the season last year and took three straight versus East Tennessee State to kick off the 2004 campaign.

Baisley Honored By The Northeast Baseball Review

               Senior catcher Brian Baisley has been named a first team Northeast Baseball Review All-Northeast Corridor selection as announced by the media outlet today.  

               The Land O'Lakes, Fla., native hit a career-best .349 (83-of-238) with nine home runs and 47 RBI in 2005. Baisley finished second on the squad in batting average, hits and RBI last season. For his career, Baisley is a .314 hitter with 12 home runs and 94 RBI.

               The Northeast Baseball Review covers NCAA baseball in the following conferences: America East, Atlantic 10, Big East, Colonial, Ivy League, Metro Atlantic, Northeast & Patriot

Tillett Out for the Season

               University of South Florida sophomore left-handed pitcher Blake Tillett will miss the 2006 season due to surgery to repair a partial rotator cuff tear in his throwing arm. Tillett underwent surgery on Oct. 13, 2005 and is currently rehabbing. He is expected to red-shirt this season.

               In 2005, Tillett registered a 4-2 record with a 5.72 ERA in 15 appearances for the Bulls. He made 10 starts, recorded 30 strikeouts in 45 and two-thirds innings. During his freshman campaign, he held opposing hitters to a .284 batting average. The Riverview, Fla., native averaged nearly six strikeouts per nine innings pitched last season.

McHargue To Miss 4-to-6 Weeks

               University of South Florida senior Matt McHargue will miss 4-to-6 weeks after suffering a fourth metacarpal fracture in his right hand. McHargue suffered the injury after being hit by a pitch during an inter-squad game on Tuesday, January, 31.

[ucfknights04]

JU is a very good team this year.  

The Atlantic Sun continues to be one of the more underrated leagues in the country.  Even with the departures of UCF and Troy, who just emerged on the national stage in baseball the last 2 seasons, the conference is strong.  You'll note that Mercer just handed #1 Florida their first loss of the season last night.

The 1-2 punch of 2 Florida schools leaving will finish after this season when FAU also leaves.  However, the conference added North Florida, who were the losers of the 2005 DII College World Series (pop quiz: Who won that series?) and looks to add Florida Gulf Coast when they go Division I.

[smazza]

i dont think the fsu.uf, or miami will have trouble with dolphins of atlantic sun

only underachievers would say a team is underrated after they whipped your behind.

usf should beAT JU DAY IN AND DAY OUT

[Big_Hairy_Bull]

i dont think the fsu.uf, or miami will have trouble with dolphins of atlantic sun

only underachievers would say a team is underrated after they whipped your behind.

usf should beAT JU DAY IN AND DAY OUT

Really! Then how did Mercer beat Florida?

[SouthFLBully]

[quote

only underachievers would say a team is underrated after they whipped your behind.

[JGBASEBALL92-94]

The Atlantic Sun Conference was ranked 7th out of 33 Division 1 conferences in 2005.

Enlighten us some more smazzy..........  Just about every team in Florida can play.  Usually those three before mentioned teams have a little more depth, especially in the pitching staff.  New facilities will help recruiting.    

[JGBASEBALL92-94]

I did not make that up by the way. Straight off JU web site.

[katieusf]

2005 DII College World Series (pop quiz: Who won that series?)

florida southern!

looks to add Florida Gulf Coast when they go Division I

is this just a rumor or is this really supposed to happen? soon?

[Joe]

JU is a strong team this year it won't be a cake walk for USF.