Baseball Bats Stay Hot, Bulls Runs Past UNF 12-1

[Brad]

USF ATHLETICS GoUSFBulls.com

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: Feb. 16, 2014

 

Web Release: http://www.gousfbulls.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=7700&ATCLID=209408802

 

Bats Stay Hot, Bulls Runs Past UNF 12-1

 

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JACKSONVILLE, FEB. 16, 2014 – A day after scoring 13 runs and picking up 21 hits in two games, the USF baseball team continued their hot start to the season banging out 19 hits on their way to a 12-1 victory over tournament host University of North Florida in the final game of the UNF Best Bet Classic played at Harmon Stadium.

The Bulls, coming off their second straight 35+ win season, finished the weekend 3-0 and outscored their opponents 25-6 despite leaving 31 runners on base over the weekend. They also out-hit their foes 40-to-20.

It is the third time under head coach Lelo Prado that USF has begun the season 3-0.

“I am really proud of our guys for this whole weekend,” said Prado. “If we play every game like we did today, we are going to be tough to beat.”

USF (3-0) picked up just two hits in the first three innings but erupted for a four-run fourth on five hits. Three consecutive singles to begin the frame was followed up by a Buddy Putnam (Bartow, Fla.) sacrifice fly to give the Bulls a 1-0 advantage. Zac Gilcrease (Tampa, Fla.) then drove in a run on a single down the leftfield line followed by a two-run single up the middle by Michael Arencibia (Key West, Fla.) to make it a 4-0 ballgame.

The fifth inning was much of the same as three straight singles started the inning before a Levi Borders (Winter Haven, Fla.) fielder’s choice, Putnam sacrifice fly and Gilcrease single all brought home runs pushing the USF advantage to seven.

UNF (2-1) picked up their lone run in the home half of the fifth on a Donnie Dewees RBI single through the right side.

The Bulls picked up two more runs in the sixth and seventh, the big blow a two-run double off the bat of Luke Maglich (Sarasota, Fla.) in the seventh. Vincent Leto (Tampa, Fla.) capped off the scoring barrage in the ninth with a sacrifice fly that brought in Hayden Kelley (Tampa, Fla.), who began the frame with a one-out single up the middle.

The last time USF scored 10 or more runs in a game in back-to-back contests was last March 15-17 when they notched 11 runs in each game against Florida A&M.

After a tight first inning in which freshman Brandon Lawson (1-0) (Spring Hill, Fla.) walked three consecutive batters with two outs, the right-hander settled down to go five innings allowing one run on five hits. He walked just one batter over the final four innings while striking out one to earn his first college win. Michael Farley (Valrico, Fla.) tossed the next two innings allowing only one hit while Brandon Murray (Orlando, Fla.) and Tommy Peterson (New Port Richey, Fla.) also threw a shutout inning apiece.

All four pitchers USF threw on the afternoon were freshman who made their first collegiate appearance.

Maglich (3-for-5) and Daniel Portales (3-for-6) (Tampa, Fla.) each had three hits in the ballgame. Eight of the nine starters in the lineup had at least two hits. Just two of the 19 hits USF had went for extra bases.

Corbin Olmstead (0-1) suffered the loss lasting only 3.1 innings as he surrendered four runs on seven hits and a walk. All but one pitcher for the Ospreys allowed at least one run in the ballgame.

Alex Merritt had the lone multi-hit performance for UNF going 3-for-4.

USF will have a day off before returning to the diamond on Tuesday, February 18 when it travels to Fort Myers to take on Florida Gulf Coast. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Swanson Stadium.

 

- #GoBulls -

 

[Ricky the Bull]

Tough in-state matchup with FGCU on Tuesday, who won 3 of 4 from Rhode Island this past weekend.

 

After that, a big 3-game series with Penn State at home this weekend

[CousinRicky]

Haven't heard anything about HR's.  Does that mean we've gone 3 games against weak competition without one?  That is a cause for concern if we haven't.  Know it is cold out and the ball may carry better as it warms up, but still.  Nice to get runs but would like to see at least a bit of power.

[Big_Hairy_Bull]

Haven't heard anything about HR's.  Does that mean we've gone 3 games against weak competition without one?  That is a cause for concern if we haven't.  Know it is cold out and the ball may carry better as it warms up, but still.  Nice to get runs but would like to see at least a bit of power.

Homeruns are nice. But a bit overrated in this day in college baseball. UCLA Bruins last year won the World Series after hitting just 19 HR's all year. That's in 66 games played. So don't worry too much about the HR's. Pitching/Defense is the name of the game. And if they keep scoring runs like the last two games the HR's are meaningless.

 

Go Bulls! Nice start!

[charsibb]

Ancient history for most of you guys, but I don't think Ichiro has hit more than a handful of HR's in his entire history.

 

Nothing wrong with winning by "manufacturing" runs.

[mjadams]

Time to get on the BUS!!!!! hahaha

[The Sheriff]

For those of you that dig Fantasy Baseball like myself, Ichiro actually was a batting practice legend when it came to the long ball. Surprisingly enough, he never participated in the long ball contest, but it has been rumored for years he brought a lot of power to the plate during those BP sessions.

 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/757093-all-star-game-ichiro-suzuki-belongs-in-the-home-run-derby

[GaUSFBull]

For those of you that dig Fantasy Baseball like myself, Ichiro actually was a batting practice legend when it came to the long ball. Surprisingly enough, he never participated in the long ball contest, but it has been rumored for years he brought a lot of power to the plate during those BP sessions.

 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/757093-all-star-game-ichiro-suzuki-belongs-in-the-home-run-derby

I remember going to a Rays-Mariners game about a decade ago and he went deep twice in the game. He could certainly hit for power, but that wasn't his job as a leadoff man. His job was to get on base, and he did that very well.

[smazza]

Tough in-state matchup with FGCU on Tuesday, who won 3 of 4 from Rhode Island this past weekend.

 

After that, a big 3-game series with Penn State at home this weekend

 

 

you cant be serious!

 

fgcu is a tough match up?

[charsibb]

Tough in-state matchup with FGCU on Tuesday, who won 3 of 4 from Rhode Island this past weekend.

 

After that, a big 3-game series with Penn State at home this weekend

 

 

you cant be serious!

 

fgcu is a tough match up?

There are about 300 D1 schools playing baseball

FGCU is in the top 100, usually within about 10 points or so of USF.

We're relatively equal, meaning we're both ranked somewhere between 75 and 100 most years.

http://www.boydsworld.com/baseball/rpi/