CLEARWATER, Fla. ? In a 10:11 p.m. game at Bright House Field, the No. 6 seed University of South Florida (30-25) took its fourth-consecutive game of 2008 from No. 3 Notre Dame (33-20-1), 9-3, in the first round of the BIG EAST Baseball Championship.
After a rain delay in the morning, the tournament was pushed back, and the Bulls' game, the fourth of the day, ended at 1:15 a.m.
The four victories in a row is the first time in school history USF has won four-straight against the same team. Dating back to the 2007 season, when the Bulls took 2-of-3 in Indiana, USF has now won six-consecutive against the Irish.
Freshman Matt Stull won his fifth game of the year, collecting four Ks in five innings of relief, allowing just one run from two hits. Freshman Derrick Stultz started the game, also striking out four, but allowing two runs from three hits in four innings.
Senior Joey Angelberger and junior Addison Maruszak each registered three hits, two RBI and one run scored while senior Charles Cleveland and freshman Junior Carlin were both 2-for-5 with a run scored.
"We came alive in the second inning," said head coach Lelo Prado. "We have seen almost every arm they have, so we had a pretty good scouting report on them. We hit pitches in the strike zone. If we get those quality at bats like we did this game, we are going to be ok."
Angelberger had only four hits in six games in his previous two seasons in BIG EAST Conference Championship action, and Maruszak was 7-for-21 in his previous two seasons in the tournament. Carlin, who had three hits and three RBI prior to last weekend's matchup with Notre Dame, now has nine hits and six RBI on the season. Cleveland has collected nine of his 16 total hits in his last eight games.
After the Irish collected two runs from a pair of hits in the bottom of the first, the Bulls batted around in the second, scoring six runs to take the four-run lead. Held scoreless in the third, the Bulls tallied one run in three consecutive innings to take the 9-3 lead after seven.
With one out in the second, seven consecutive Bulls reached the basepaths, as juniors Brian Hobbs and Trey Manz connected on base hits, then freshman Jonathan Koscso was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Cleveland singled to right field to score USF's first two runs, collecting his fifth and sixth RBIs of the season. Junior Mike Consolmagno drew a walk, then Carlin drove in his third run in as many games. Angelberger collected a pair of RBI from a single to center field, then Maruszak picked up his 30th RBI of the season with a ground out to the ND first baseman.
In the fourth, Angelberger's two-out infield single to shortstop was followed by a base hit to center field by Maruszak, which scored USF's seventh run. An inning later, Angelberger hit his third-consecutive single, which drove in Koscso, who had reached on a single up the middle earlier in the inning, to give the Bulls an 8-2 lead. A leadoff double from Maruszak in the sixth was followed by a single from freshman Stephen Hunt, then junior Trey Manz sent a sac fly to center to score the team's ninth run.
The Bulls next face Cincinnati at 8 p.m. on Wednesday in the second round of the BIG EAST Baseball Championships at Bright House Field in Clearwater.
For more information about the Bulls and the 2008 BIG EAST Baseball Championship, go to www.BIGEASTBaseball.com or keep an eye on the USF baseball website at www.GoUSFBulls.com.
