TAMPA, Fla. (April 25, 2006) ? Three home runs, including a grand slam by third baseman Dexter Butler was not enough as the University of South Florida baseball team (19-23) fell to the Stetson Hatters (26-16), 12-9 in 11 innings, on Tuesday, April 25 at Red McEwen Field.
Butler, who went 2-for-4 with four RBI and one run scored, joined freshman Addison Maruszak and sophomore Joey Angelberger in clearing the fence versus the Hatters. Maruszak went 2-for-6, including his first-career home run, scoring a run and driving one in, while Angelberger drove in two runs on two hits during a 2-for-4 performance. Second baseman Nick Cardieri scored two run, going 2-for-5 from the plate, while senior Brian Baisley batted 2-for-6 with a run scored. Senior Kris Howell increased his career-best hitting streak to 12 games, going 2-for-5 on the night.
Ryan Lau suffered second loss of the season, allowing three runs on three hits in one-third of relief action. In all, USF utilized seven pitchers (Nick Manganaro, Yuri Higgins, Matt Ingram, Raymon Garcia, Chase Lirette, Lau and James Rowe). Manganaro made his fourth start of the season, lasting four innings. The Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., native allowed three runs on eight hits while striking out four to earn the “no decision”.
The Bulls jumped out to a 4-0 lead on Butler's grand slam (the first of his USF career) in the bottom of the second. With the bases loaded, Butler sent a 1-1 pitch over the left field fence for his first homer of the season.
Stetson cut into USF's lead, scoring two runs in the top of the third and then one run in the top of the fourth to make the contest a one-run game. A two-run home run by Angelberger extended USF's lead to 6-3 in the bottom of the fourth. The Hatters took an 8-6 lead, scoring five runs on three hits in the top of the sixth.
USF tied the game in the bottom of the sixth, scoring two runs on an error by Stetson second baseman Brandon Paritz. Stetson regained the lead with a run in the top of eighth, 9-8, before Maruszak blasted his first-career home run in the bottom of the ninth. With one out and no runners on base, the Pinellas Park, Fla., native homered over the fence in left-center field, tying the game a 9-all and sending the game to extra innings.
In extra innings, Stetson rattled off three runs in the top of the 11th, however USF was unable to answer, falling to the in-state rival 12-9. The loss marked the second of the season for the Bulls versus the Hatters.
USF will host the Georgetown Hoyas in a three-game BIG EAST series beginning Friday, April 28. First pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m. The game will be tape-delayed on Catch 47 and will be re-broadcasted on April 30 at 9 p.m. and May 1 at 12 p.m. Jim Louk (play-by-play) and Fred McGriff (color analyst) will call the action.
Stetson 12, USF 9 (Apr 25, 2006 at Tampa, Fla.)
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Stetson............. 002 105 010 03 - 12 17 1 (26-16)
USF................. 040 202 001 00 - 9 13 2 (19-23)
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Pitchers: Stetson - MURPHY; HITCHCOCK(4); MARSOCCI(6); INGOGLIA(6); ELSEMILLER(8). USF -
MANGANARO; HIGGINS(5); INGRAM(7); GARCIA(8); LIRETTE(9); LAU(11); ROWE(11).
Win-ELSEMILLER(2-2) Loss-LAU(1-2) T-3:37 A-234
HR STET - JOHNSON, C. 2 (6).
HR USF - MARUSZAK (1); ANGELBERGER (4); BUTLER (1).
HITCHCOCK faced 2 batters in the 6th.
