Official Release - Bulls at Big East Tournament

[Brad]

Courtesy USF SID Office

USF Bulls (23-33, 12-15 BIG EAST) at 2006 BIG EAST Baseball Championship

Date: May 23-27

Location: Bright House Networks Field (8,500), Clearwater, Fla.

Format: Double Elimination

Seed: USF enters the 2006 BIG EAST Tournament as the No. 8 seed

First Round Opponent: No. 1-seeded Notre Dame (41-14-1, 21-5-1 BE)  (8 p.m.)

Record: USF improved to 23-33 following 2-1 series win over West Virginia last weekend

Television: N/A

Radio: USF Press Pass - www.GoUSFBulls.com - Jim Louk (play-by-play) and Scott Kuykendall (color analyst) will call the action.

Rankings: Notre Dame was ranked No. 19 in last week’s Baseball America Top 25 and No. 23 in last week’s USA Today/ESPN Top 25

Live Stats: GameWatcher - www.GoUSFBulls.com

Head Coach: Eddie Cardieri (Florida Southern ‘77) is 731-544 (.573) in his 21st season with the Bulls and 794-577 (.580) in his 23rd season overall.

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

Conference’s official web site: www.BIGEAST.org

The Series: Tuesday’s contest versus the Irish will mark the fifth meeting between USF and Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish hold a 3-1 edge in the series history following a three-game sweep earlier this season at Red McEwen Field.

Possible Second Round Matchup: USF will either face the No. 4-seeded St. John’s Red Storm of the No. 5-seeded West Virginia Mountaineers on Wednesday, May 24 at time yet to be determined.  

Projected Starters

Game No. 57 - Tuesday May 23 - 8 p.m.

USF - No. 10 Casey Hudspeth, junior, RHP (7-6, 4.52 ERA, 103 K)

Notre Dame - No. 13 Wade Korpi, sophomore, LHP (2.20 ERA, 81 K)

Game No. 58 - Wednesday, May 24 - TBA

USF - TBD

Opponent TBD

USF Baseball To Face Top-Seeded Notre Dame In The First Round Of The BIG EAST Baseball Championship

CLEARWATER, Fla. (May 22, 2006) – The University of South Florida baseball team (23-33, 12-15 BIG EAST) will face the tournament’s top seed – Notre Dame (41-14-1, 21-5-1 BIG EAST) – on Tuesday, May 23 at Bright House Networks Field. First pitch is scheduled for 8 p.m. The game will mark the fourth and final contest of the day which begins with Louisville versus Rutgers at 10:00 a.m.

The Bulls will be looking to avenge a conference-series sweep at the hands of the Irish earlier this season. USF is coming off a series victory over West Virginia this past weekend (2-1) and will look to carry the winning momentum into its first-ever BIG EAST Tournament.  

USF finished the 2006 regular season batting .269 with 31 home runs and 254 RBI. Seniors Kris Howell (.315) and Brian Baisley (.306) lead the Bulls offensively. Howell has registered a team-high 67 hits in 2006, while Baisley leads the team in home runs (6) and is second on the squad in doubles (13).

The Bulls’ pitching staff has recorded a 4.84 ERA with 443 strikeouts in 505 and two-thirds innings of action. The 443 Ks are the most by a USF team since the 1995 season (546). Junior Casey Hudspeth anchors the Bulls’ pitching staff with a league-best 103 strikeouts. Hudspeth became the ninth player in USF history to registered 100-or-more strikeouts in a season, following his six-strikeout performance at West Virginia (May 18). The Sarasota, Fla., native has a 4.52 ERA with a 7-6 record this season.

USF’s games will be cover on “USF Press Pass” on the team’s official website www.GoUSFBulls.com. Jim Louk (play-by-play) and Scott Kuykendall (color analyst) will call the action.  

The 2006 BIG EAST Championship is an eight-team, double-elimination tournament with the championship game taking place on Saturday, May 27.

[Brad]

FWIW:  Former major league star Wade Boggs will provide commentary for ESPNU’s telecast of the Big East championship game on Saturday, the network announced Monday. Boggs’ son Brett is a freshman first baseman for South Florida.

[Brad]

Bulls Team Shop

[CoolBull1]

pretty cool to see the Bulls logo next to Notre Dame...how far this program has come.   Granted, baseball has a few problems but I think it's good for the public to see that image.

[USFan]

pretty cool to see the Bulls logo next to Notre Dame...how far this program has come.  

BULL PRIDE!

[Sitting_BULL]

If we're the host team, why aren't they having this at the USF baseball stadium?

[Apis Bull]

If we're the host team, why aren't they having this at the USF baseball stadium?

I hope you're joking.

[T-Man]

3 out of the 8 are newbies to the conference!

[bull2saintleo]

If we're the host team, why aren't they having this at the USF baseball stadium?

You better be kidding, USF's ballpark isn't tournament quality.  USF wanted to host the tourney at Legends Field in Tampa, but the Yankees minor league club is home all week, and here in Clearwater the team is out of town all week.

[Minotaur]

He is making a point. WWW knows more than anyone howm much the Red needs "help".