TAMPA, Fla. - Trailing 8-0 in the fifth, the University of South Florida collected nine runs over the final four innings to complete the sweep of the Notre Dame baseball team with a 9-8 victory Saturday afternoon.
The three-game BIG EAST sweep is USF's first under head coach Lelo Prado, with the last occurrence happening in 2006, when the Bulls took three from Seton Hall in Tampa.
"We did a great job this weekend because we hit when we had to," said Prado after the final regular season game of 2008. "We came out a little slow, which I knew we would after last night, but for the guys to come in here and sweep them, that's a great job for our young men. Hopefully we can keep this going into the tournament and do something special in Clearwater."
The Bulls will now prepare for their 8 p.m. game on the first day of the BIG EAST Championship held at Bright House Field in Clearwater, Fla., on Tuesday, May 20. The Bulls will be dealt their conference seed late Saturday night, following the completion of all regular season games.
This weekend, freshman Junior Carlin drove in the game-winning RBI in back-to-back games for USF, ending both games with a single to the left side. In Saturday's game he collected three hits and drove in his fifth RBI of the year.
"Carlin is another freshman that has all of the tools of a baseball player," said Prado. "He's a two-way guy like Stephen Hunt. Those guys have a chance to have great futures here. As long as they keep their mind right and do the right things off and on the field, they are going to be great players for USF. As I keep saying, the future is very bright for USF baseball."
Hunt, also a true freshman, was 3-for-4 at the plate in Saturday's 14th BIG EAST victory, picking up his eighth double and 37th RBI of the year. He also earned his second save of his rookie year, retiring three batters in the ninth.
Hunt was one of six Bulls pitchers to take the mound Saturday. Freshman Matt Stull earned his fourth victory of the season with a one-inning appearance, striking out one and allowing one hit in the eighth.
Sophomore Shawn Sanford started the game, but allowed seven runs from six hits, giving way to classmate Teddy Kaufman, who struck out one and allowed three hits in 1.1 innings.
Sophomore Matt Quevedo, who, due to injury, made his first appearance since April 5 at West Virginia, allowed only one hit in his 1.1 innings, then senior David Torcise came in to close the seventh, forcing a pair of fly ball outs.
"If you get good pitching, you have a chance in the tournament, and right now I'm pretty pleased with our pitching," added Prado.
USF fell behind 8-0 after five innings, but the Bulls batted around in the bottom of the fifth, scoring six runs and getting back into the ball game. USF collected two more in the sixth and tacked on the game-winner in the eighth to complete the sweep.
Senior Joey Angelberger hit his fourth home run in as many games, a three-run shot in the fifth, to spark the Bulls. Three batters later, junior Brian Hobbs connected on a two-run bomb over the left field wall. Angelberger leads the team with 10 round-trippers and Hobbs is second with eight.
USF ends the 2008 season 29-25 overall with a 14-13 clip in the BIG EAST, one more victory than last season's 13-14 conference record. Prado is now 63-51 overall in his two years with the Bulls, and 27-27 in the league. The Bulls have earned consecutive BIG EAST Championship berths under Prado, posting a 2-2 record in the tournament last season.
For more information about the Bulls and the 2008 BIG EAST Baseball Championship, go to http://www.bigeastbaseball.com/ or keep an eye on the USF baseball website at http://www.gousfbulls.com/.
