BaseBulls win 5-0

[flsportsfan83]

go Bulls

[Brad]

Nice...gotta keep it up.

Again, a 16 game homestand bodes only well for this team.. Keep the fire.

[flsportsfan83]

Hopefully we can get the sweep 2morrow. That UF game should show us where this team is at.

[JoeB]

Maybe, maybe not.  Going into today, UF was 4-5.

[Brad]

That UF game should show us where this team is at.

Indeed, but I think we will struggle...spare the wrists and the acerbic language.

[Brad]

Courtesy USF SID

USF Earns Eighth Win Of Season With 5-0 Win Over Manhattan

TAMPA, Fla. (Feb. 24, 2007) – Junior right handed pitcher Daniel Thomas threw eight strikeouts in 7.0 innings pitched as the University of South Florida baseball team beat Manhattan College 5-0 Saturday night at Red McEwen Field.

Senior left fielder Ty Taborelli was 3-for-3 at the plate with two RBI and one run scored while sophomore third baseman Addison Maruszak’s 3-for-3 plate appearance resulted in one RBI for the 8-1Bulls.  

In the bottom of the third, USF notched two runs off of three hits. With two outs, junior second baseman Dexter Butler singled through the right side then scored on a stand-up triple by Taborelli. Taborelli’s shot was the first three-bagger of the season for the Bulls.

Taborelli scored on the next play as Maruszak cracked a single up the middle, his 2nd hit of the game and 68th of his career.

The Bulls added another run to the scoreboard in the fifth as junior shortstop Walter Diaz doubled up the middle, then scored as Taborelli blasted a base hit through the left side tallying his ninth RBI of the season.  

In the fourth, USF tallied its 71st run of the season as senior designated hitter Nick Cardieri scored on a Diaz sacrifice fly to center field. Cardieri walked, then moved to second as sophomore catcher Braulio Pardo put down a sac bunt. Junior Josh LeRoy singled to right field, moving Cardieri into scoring position.  

Thomas gave up his first hit of the game in the seventh inning, a single down the right field line, but no Jasper runs were scored in the inning.  

In the eighth, senior right hander Yuri Higgins entered the game with no outs and two Jasper runners on base, but kept Manhattan College from scoring any runs by striking out two Jaspers and forcing the third to fly out to LeRoy in right field.  

Higgins ended the game with three strikeouts in 2.0 innings pitched and nine batters faced.  

The Bulls and Jaspers conclude the three-game series Sunday at noon at Red McEwen Field.

[SeaBull]

Can someone give me some history of the team? From what I've seen posted, the old coach "EC" wasn't much of a coach.

Was there a point when USF baseball was exciting before? It seems we are on the right track and look forward to following the team this year.

[Brad]

My opinion only -and partially biased having come from a baseball family in which relatives have played college ball, coached college ball, played pro ball, coached pro ball, scouted pro ball, and been in front office.

EC wasted opportunity as did Robin Roberts.  The chance for this program to assert itself was back in the 70s and we didn't do it.

The fact we have committed leadership in the AD office and the Baseball HC office, we have enough reason there to be excited.

[Reliabull]

I will respectfully disagree with Bulliever here. The history of USF baseball has been until last May an indictment of an athletic department that never put more than a nickel into the baseball program than it had to. It probably has been better than it should have been, though not as good as it could have been.

The short version: Robin Roberts basically brought them to an NCAA level program in the '70s and '80s. EC had some very good teams from '86 through '94 and a Top 20 level group from 1995-97. The team struggled for a year or two after in rebuilding, but got back to the regional level in 2000-01 in a much more competitive league than it had played in before.

And somewhere after that, something changed (and there's plenty of speculation why). One of the most knowledgeable baseball men I've met in 30 years of following the sport told me last year that the difference over a five-year period was like night and day. And he was right.

If you want more input on EC as a coach, ask jg or EXBULL21, who played for him and can give you their perspective. As a recruiter, he did OK but missed on too many big-name players. It seemed that U of Tampa always managed to snare a big prospect every couple of years that he should have snagged. But this also has to be said: EC's players were almost always good representatives of USF on and off the field and in the classroom.

The biggest problem was the lack of support from the athletic department. Even in the Top 20 days with Gload, Dellaero and Heintz crushing the ball, there was never a chance of getting to host a regional (back then, six teams, double-elimination) because of the complete absence of marketing to build crowds. And in the six-team regionals, you basically had to go into a Top 10 team's stadium and win a grueling tournament where one loss meant you had to go 5-1 over four days to win. Home-field advantage was a TRUE home-field advantage on those tournaments.

The hiring of Prado at a considerable salary was the real commitment ever to this program. There will be a new stadium and there is the first real attempt to add some pizzazz to the experience. Like everyone, I'm very pleased so far.

I'm not interested in a debate here. I know Bulliever has strong opinions on the topic. I have a different perspective than he does: If University X commits 250 percent less money than does a university that is regularly considered a Top 20 baseball team, then even if it's located in a goldmine of high school talent, I don't expect University X to finish .500, much less get to Omaha. And that's the real history of USF baseball.

[SeaBull]

Alright, thanks a lot for the history. I now have reason to be excited.

Growing up and playing ball in Seattle, I always would hear/watch all the talent coming out of the South and even the Caribbean. Good to see that we have a program that is now willing to exploite our location.