Bulls Open 2011 Season with Top Ranked Florida
February 17, 2011 | Baseball
Florida Series Gamenotes (PDF)
TAMPA – There will be no warm up games or patsies for the University of South Florida baseball team as they begin the 2011 season.
The Bulls will travel to Gainesville for a three-game set to open up the 2011 season against the Florida Gators who are coming off a trip to Omaha and the College World Series and sit atop a number of preseason rankings.
First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Florida's McKethan Field. The Bulls and Gators will then duel at 4 p.m. on Saturday and then end the series with a 1 p.m. start.
Friday's opener will be aired live on Sun Sports and all three games can be heard live on 1010 CBS Sports on your AM dial as well through BullsVision.
Bulls' head coach Lelo Prado begins his fifth season with a record of 723-534-2 after 20 years as a collegiate head coach. In four season with the Bulls, Prado has produced four straight BIG EAST Championship appearances. He has led USF to 125 wins in his four years in Tampa, posting four 30-win seasons.
With 723 career wins, Prado ranks 33rd among active coaches in wins. He is one of two active BIG EAST coaches with over 700 career victories.
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The Bulls will send a pair of preseason All-BIG EAST selections to the mound in the first two games against the Gators. This Weekend's Probable Starters (2010 Stats)
Senior RHP Randy Fontanez will take the mound on Friday night and LHP Andrew Barbosa will take the bump on Saturday afternoon. Both Fontanez and Barbosa decided to return for their senior seasons after being selected in the 2010 MLB Draft.
Despite a 5-7 record in 2010, Fontanez, who has made 41 career starts, is coming off an impressive statistical 2010. Making a career-high 15 starts, Fontanez went 5.1 or more innings in all 15 starts with four complete games and two shutouts including a no-hitter against Notre Dame. He led the BIG EAST in strikeouts (105) and innings pitched (110.1).
Fontanez will be opposed by sophomore lefthander Brian Johnson, who was 6-4 in 2010with a 4.03 earned run average.
The 6'8'' Barbosa is coming off a break out 2010, where he went from walk-on and relative unknown to the Bulls No. 2 starter and an All-BIG EAST selection. He paced the Bulls on the mound with a 2.40 ERA and a team-high eight wins in 14 starts.
Barbosa will hope to carry some past success against the Gators into Saturday's start.
Making his first Division I start as a Bull in last season against the Gators, Barbosa was solid going 6.0 innings, giving up three runs, all in the first inning, striking out four and walking just one in the series finale. At one point, Barbosa retired 12 straight Gators and 13 of the last 14 batters he face.
Barbsosa will square off against sophomore righty Hudson Randall. In his rookie season with the Gators, Randall made a team-high 17 starts going 8-4 in 20 appearances.
Freshman LHP Nick Gonzalez will likely get make his first collegiate start in the series finale on Sunday. The 6'4'' Leto HS product has impressed throughout the fall and into spring practice. He was selected in the 30th round of the 2010 MLB Draft by the Philadelphia Phillies with pick No. 921 but decided to honor his pledge and come to USF.
Sunday will be a matchup of true freshman as Florida will send RHP Karsten Whitson to the mound. Whitson was selected in the first round of last June's Major League Baseball Draft by the San Diego Padres with the ninth overall pick.
The Bulls will look to avenge a season-opening sweep dealt to them by the Gators to open up the 2010 season. In 74 all-time meetings, the Gators lead the series 51-23. USF will be looking for their first win in Gainesville since 2005.
Following this weekend, the Bulls will return to Tampa and prepare for the opening of the new USF baseball stadium. USF will host Elon in a three-game series. The first game is set for Friday, Feb. 25 with first pitch at 7:00 p.m.
