TAMPA, Fla. (March 6, 2007) ? The University of South Florida baseball team beat Stetson for the first time in six tries with a 6-5 victory Tuesday night at Red McEwen.
The Bulls also broke the Hatters' 13-game Tuesday night winning streak, which included three contests this season, the rest dating back to last season.
Junior left-handed pitcher Davis Bilardello earned his first win of the season, facing three batters in the eighth inning, allowing no hits and no runs. Freshman Shawn Sanford picked up his first collegiate save, tossing two strikeouts to three batters faced in the ninth inning.
Senior Nick Cardieri and junior Dexter Butler were both 2-for-4 at the plate with one RBI and one run scored. Juniors Walter Diaz and Charles Cleveland, along with sophomores Addison Maruszak and Braulio Pardo, each had one hit in the game as well.
The Bulls jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning as the first four batters drew three walks and Maruszak was hit by a pitch. Butler singled through the right side to drive in senior outfielder Ty Taborelli, and Maruszak scored on a ground out by Cardieri.
Stetson inched their way back with a run in both the second and fourth, then took the 5-3 lead in the top of the sixth, cracking three hits along the way.
USF answered with four hits in the bottom of the frame, one apiece from Butler, Cardieri, Pardo and designated hitter Charles Cleveland, to even the score at 5-5.
In the eighth, junior Joey Angelberger walked and Diaz singled up the middle to score USF's game-winning run.
The Bulls are now 11-4 overall while the Stetson Hatters drop to 10-5.
Following this mid-week game with Stetson, the Bulls will host Michigan State and Quinnipiac this weekend, March 8-10. On Thursday, the Bulls and MSU Spartans take the field at 6 p.m., then host the Bobcats from Hamden, Conn., on Friday, March 9 at 6 p.m. USF, who will have played seven games in nine days, end the week with Michigan State on Saturday at 6 p.m.
On Sunday, Michigan State and Quinnipiac will play at noon at Red McEwen Field.
