NOTRE DAME, Ind. (March 24, 2007) ? The University of South Florida baseball team scored 11 runs in the sixth and seventh innings to beat Notre Dame 13-10 Saturday afternoon at Frank Eck Stadium in Indiana.
In the two innings, 20 Bulls stepped to the plate, notching the 11 runs from eight hits and three walks while two batters were hit by a pitch.
Junior second baseman Dexter Butler registered one double and scored two runs in his 4-for-5 outing at the plate on Saturday. He also tallied two RBI in the game, his 18th of the season and 64th of his career.
Junior center fielder Joey Angelberger was 3-for-5 with three runs scored and two RBI while junior shortstop Walter Diaz drew four walks while batting 1-for-2, scoring one run and tallying two RBI.
Junior Josh LeRoy had a team-high three RBI while scoring one run in his 1-for-4 outing.
Senior right handed pitcher Yuri Higgins earned his third win of the season (3-1), notching 10 strikeouts in 5.2 innings. Higgins, who came in for relief in the second inning, allowed three runs off of seven hits, and walked one of his 26 batters faced.
Freshman right handed pitcher Shawn Sanford earned his fifth save of the season allowing no runs on one hit in 1.2 innings.
After dropping game one of the series on Friday night, the Bulls took the early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on Saturday afternoon.
Diaz drew a walk to start the game, and advanced to second on a passed ball. Diaz then scored as Butler singled up the middle. Butler extended his hitting streak to eight games on the play, dating back to the March 10 Michigan State game.
The Irish fought back in the bottom of the inning, knotting the score after registering a triple then a sacrifice fly to score the run.
USF again took the lead in the second as Angelberger recorded a base-hit bunt, then junior Brad Karns reached base on an error from the Fighting Irish left fielder. Diaz singled to right field, scoring Angelberger and giving USF the 2-1 lead.
In the bottom of the second, Notre Dame tallied four runs from three hits and two USF errors to take the 5-2 lead.
In the sixth, nine Bulls batted as USF rallied five runs on four hits to regain the lead, 7-5.
Butler notched a double up the middle to lead off the inning, then junior Brandin Daniel was hit by a pitch to fill the vacancy at first. Senior Nick Cardieri put down a sac bunt to move the runners into scoring position, then freshman Ryan Soares walked to load the bases.
With Angelberger at the plate, Butler scored on a passed ball, the first of two in the inning. Angelberger proceeded to single up the middle, one of three consecutive base hits for USF. Karns sent a line drive to center field, then LeRoy tallied two RBI on his poke to right field. Karns tallied the Bulls' fifth run of the game after a passed ball by the Irish.
USF batted around for the second-straight inning, scoring a total of 11 runs off of eight hits in the sixth and seventh innings.
Butler was hit by a pitch then advanced to second on a passed ball to lead off the seventh. Butler then scored as Cardieri sent a single up the middle. Soares and Angelberger had back-to-back base hits, forcing a Notre Dame pitching change.
The Fighting Irish's new hurler threw 11-straight balls and walked three consecutive Bulls - Karns, LeRoy and Diaz ? before being relieved by Notre Dame's fifth pitcher of the game.
With a new pitcher and the bases loaded, Maruszak hit a sac fly to right field, scoring Karns, USF's fifth run of the inning.
Butler sent a base hit to left field in his second at-bat of the inning, which scored LeRoy and gave USF the 13-5 lead.
Notre Dame tallied one run in the seventh, connecting on a double and a base hit off of Higgins.
In the eighth, junior Davis Bilardello came in to relieve Higgins, but gave up two hits and two runs in one-third of an inning, giving way to Sanford, USF's freshman closer.
With two runners on in the ninth, Sanford struck out one and forced two Notre Dame batters to ground out to end the game.
Freshman right hander Matt Quevedo opened the game for the Bulls, striking out two, but allowed five runs on four hits in 1.1 innings.
USF concludes the series with Notre Dame Sunday afternoon at noon at Frank Eck Stadium in Notre Dame, Ind.
