Game Box | Season Stats | Chat Transcript   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E ND 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 10 1 USF 0 7 0 3 0 0 0 0 - 10 12 1 Pitching IP H R ER BB SO W - Kaufman (4-1) 5.0 6 1 1 0 5 L - Maust (0-2) 1.2 6 7 5 1 2 SV - None -- -- -- -- -- - Batting Leaders AB R H RBI BB ND- Connolly 5 0 3 1 0 USF - Koscso 4 2 2 3 0 Up Next: vs. Stetson| March 30| 7 p.m. | Deland, Fla.

TAMPA -- If fans were waiting for the University of South Florida baseball team to turn the corner, that time has come, as the Bulls (11-13 overall, 3-0 BIG EAST) defeated Notre Dame, 10-2, on Saturday night and completed a three-game sweep of the Irish (8-15, 0-3).

The win marks the Bulls sixth straight and improves their record to 11-13 on the season.

"Obviously, it is great to open conference play with a sweep," said USF head coach Lelo Prado. "We played very good baseball in all three games. I was very pleased with our two-out hitting. We scored a lot of runs with two outs and that is usually a sign that things are going well."
 
In the night cap of the Saturday doubleheader, USF pitchers recorded eight strikeouts including five from senior starter Teddy Kaufman.

Pitching on just three days rest and coming off a 120-pitch outing against North Florida, Kaufman went five strong innings. The senior allowed just one run on six hits while striking out five and not allowing a base on balls.

The win was Kaufman's fourth straight and improved his season record to 4-1.

The USF bats exploded for 10 runs in the series finale.  The Bulls collected 20 runs on 32 hits in the three-game set and held Notre Dame to just 5 runs on 20 hits.

Four Bulls recorded a pair of hits in the nightcap, including junior Jonathan Koscso who finished the series against Notre Dame 6-for-13 at the plate with five RBI and four runs scored. Koscso drove in three runs against the Irish in the series finale and scored two of the Bulls' 10 runs.

The Bulls got the scoring started in the bottom of the second as they hung a seven spot on the Irish and gave Kaufman plenty of breathing room.  USF batted around, collected six hits, walked twice and capitalized on a pair of balks from Notre Dame starter Eric Maust.

Sam Mende led off the third with a single. Mende scored on a two-out single by freshman Jimmy Falla. Falla scored on a single by catcher Andrew Longley. After a single by Luis Llerena and a walk by Ryan Lockwood, Kosco plated two with a single. Koscso scored after Stephen Hunt reached on an error.  Mende finished the seven-run rally with his second single of inning, which scored Hunt.

Back-to-back singles by Lockwood and and Koscso set the table for back-to-back doubles by Hunt and pinch-hitter Alex Mendez.  When all was said and done in the fourth inning, the Bulls had a posted three runs and increased their lead to 10-0.

The Bulls would cruise to the series sweep after the fourth inning.

The Irish added a single run in the fifth and the eighth innings, but it was not enough to avoid the three-game sweep.

Relievers Matt Quevedo, Doug Wagner and Jimmy Moran combined to throw 4.0 innings of two-run ball.

The Bulls will ride their six-game winning streak into Deland, Fla. For a midweek game with Stetson on Tuesday night.  USF will continue BIG EAST play at Cincinnati next weekend, April 1-3.


Game Notes
The Bulls have now won 10 of their last 13 meetings against the Irish... The series sweep marks the second consecutive time that the Bulls have swept Notre Dame in Tampa... The Bulls swept the Irish to end the 2008 season on May 15-18... The Bulls have won all four conference opening series since 2007... Junior Sam Mende returned to the line-up after missing six games with a broken jaw on Friday night and collected five hits in 12 at bats in the three-game series against the Irish... Mende leads the team in batting average with a .360 mark... Junior OF Junoir Carlin went 0-for-1 at the plate and snapped his 10-game hit streak... Over the course of the Bulls six-game winning streak, USF has tallied 26 two out RBI... In the previous, 18 games they had just 39.