TAMPA, Fla. ? The University of South Florida baseball team lost, 10-3, to Bethune-Cookman Wednesday night at Red McEwen Field.
The Bulls drop to 25-21 overall while the Wildcats improve to 30-17.
Junior Chris Rey was 3-for-4 in the game with one RBI and a run scored, while junior Addison Maruszak added a two-hit outing to the Bulls' offense.
Freshman Zach Pietrzyk made his longest start, and appearance, of his rookie campaign against the Wildcats, striking out two in his 4.1-inning outing. He allowed five runs from seven hits to take his second loss of the year.
USF found themselves down 3-1 early in the game and never caught up to the Wildcats, who collected 10 runs through seven innings while the Bulls could only gather three in that same timeframe.
"If you are going to be a great team, you can't accept losing," said head coach Lelo Prado. "Some of these guys need to find out that if they want to be a Bull, they cannot perform like this."
USF's first run came in the second inning as junior Brian Hobbs led off the inning with a double to right center, then senior Charles Cleveland drove him in with a single to center field. Cleveland picked up his third RBI of the season on the play. The Bulls added another one in the fourth, as Hobbs and Cleveland drew walks and freshman Stephen Hunt and Rey had base hits. Rey earned the RBI, his 31st of the year. The Bulls' final run was scored in the sixth, as Rey reached on a single, then junior Trey Manz drove him in with a single up the middle.
The Bulls have the weekend off, but are back in action next Tuesday, May 6, when USF faces off with UCF for the fourth and final time of the year. The first pitch will be at 7 p.m. at Red McEwen Field.
