TAMPA, Fla. (Feb. 28, 2007) ? The University of South Florida baseball team (9-2) looks to bounce back from its second loss of the season by hosting a three-game series with Central Michigan University Friday-Sunday at Red McEwen Field.
On Friday and Saturday the Bulls and Chippewas take the field at 6 p.m., then return to Red McEwen Sunday at noon for the final game of the series.
CMU leads the all-times series 3-2, but USF has won two of the last three games. All five games of the series have been played in Tampa. The Bulls and Chippewas first played in 1971, a 9-4 CMU victory in Tampa, and the last meeting on March 2, 2003 resulted in a 13-2 USF victory.
USF comes into the weekend series following a 10-5 ninth-inning loss to Florida on Feb. 27. The 9-2 Bulls have swept three games from High Point (Feb. 9-11), Jacksonville (Feb. 16-18) and Manhattan (Feb. 23-25), but took losses in both mid-week games this season, once to Stetson on Feb. 20 and Tuesday to Florida.
Central Michigan is 2-4 this year, posting a 2-1 record with the University of Alabama-Birmingham (Feb. 16-18), and dropping all three games to Southern Illinois, one on Feb. 23 and a double-header on Feb. 25.
Junior second baseman Dexter Butler is atop the offensive leaderboard with a .462 batting average in USF's 11 games. Butler has 18 hits, four of which are doubles, and nine RBI.
Junior Brandin Daniel has a team-high 17 RBI, notching the Bulls' only home run, along with three doubles and 15 total hits. Daniel's .395 average is fourth on the team.
Junior infielder Jeff Helps and senior infielder Ben Humphrey lead the Chippewas at the plate this season, each batting .292. Helps has seven hits, including a double, and two runs scored, while Humphrey has scored three times and has a pair of two-baggers. Senior Sean Hoorelbeke has tallied a team-high five RBI and one of his four hits was a home run.
On the mound, USF looks to the arm of two-time BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week Danny Otero, who owns a 0.76 ERA and a 3-1 record. Otero has 15 strikeouts in 23.2 innings pitched and on Feb. 23 against Manhattan, he recorded USF's first complete game since the 2003 season.
Juniors Daniel Thomas (2-0) and Chris Delaney (2-0), who have been the Bulls' Saturday and Sunday starters the past two weeks, each own a 1.12 ERA, pitching 16.0 innings and making three appearances. Thomas has a team-high 17 strikeouts while Delaney is third on the list with 14.
Sophomore Dan Taylor (1-0) holds CMU's lowest ERA (1.12), allowing one earned run in 8.0 innings pitched. Senior Kurt Lauscher (0-1) and junior Josh Collmenter (0-1) have each started two games for the Chippewas and have pitched 10.0 and 12.0 innings, respectively. Lauscher owns a 2.70 ERA while Collmenter is at 3.75.
Following the game with CMU, USF welcomes Stetson to Red McEwen Field March 6 for the second of a three-date series with the Hatters. First pitch for the mid-week game is at 6 p.m. The final game will be played in Tampa on April 10.
