CLEARWATER, Fla. ? The University of South Florida baseball team gave up 10 runs over three innings to lose 11-1 to Cincinnati in seven innings Wednesday night at the BIG EAST Baseball Championship at Bright House Field.
No. 6 seed USF, who had defeated No. 3 Notre Dame 9-3 on Tuesday night, is now 30-26 overall while No. 2 Cincinnati is 38-19 after beating No. 7 West Virginia 11-5 in first-round action. USF plays at West Virginia at 7 p.m. Thursday in the loser's bracket of the tournament. Cincinnati moves on in the winner's bracket, playing the winner of the USF-WVU game at 1 p.m. on Friday.
"I give them credit, Cincinnati came out with great intensity," said head coach Lelo Prado. "They hit DT [Daniel Thomas] and we didn't do our job offensively. Early in the game, the game is tied and we had our chances, but we didn't do our jobs. For us to win we have to play with great intensity and great enthusiasm. I don't know how you don't bring it today, but that has been our season."
Junior Mike Consolmagno was the only Bull to collect a pair of hits as he had singles in the first and third innings. Junior Trey Manz doubled in the fourth inning, his 13th of the season.
Junior Daniel Thomas was tagged with his fourth loss of the year after giving up eight runs from nine hits in his six innings of work. He also struck out four and walked five.
A leadoff single and an RBI double in the first gave Cincinnati the early 1-0 lead. The Bulls tied the game in the second as freshman Stephen Hunt hit a leadoff infield single, moved to second on an error by the Bearcats, then scored after a sac bunt from junior Trey Manz and a sac fly from freshman Jonathan Koscso.
In the fifth, Cincinnati connected on a double, single and a two-run homer to inch past the Bulls and take the three-run lead. The Bearcats collected three more in the sixth, then added four more in the seventh off a grand slam, which gave UC the 11-1 victory in seven innings.
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/.
