Bethune-Cookman 4, USF 3 Mar. 17, 2011 | Jackie Robinson Stadium | Daytona Beach, Fla. Attendance: 150| Time: 2:14| Game Box | 2011 Season Stats     1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E USF (7-10) 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 3 10 0 BCU (9-10) 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 - 4 6 1 Pitching IP H R ER BB SO W- Hernadez (2-0) 5.0 5 2 1 0 6 L- Eastham (2-1)  7.0 6 4 4 2 6 SV - Hunos (1) 0.1 0 0 0  0 0 Batting Leaders AB R H RBI HR BCU- Leonard 4 2 2 0 1 USF- Falla 4 1 3 1 1 Up Next: Friday, March 18 - at Bethune-Cookman - 6:00 p.m. Saturday, March 19 - Bethune-Cookman - 7:00 p.m. Sunday, March 20 - Bethune-Cookman - 1:00 p.m.

DAYTONA, Fla.-  A ninth-inning solo homerun by junior C Andrew Longley was not enough as the University of South Florida baseball team's (7-10) ninth inning rally fell short. The Bulls fell, 4-3, to Bethune-Cookman (9-10) Thursday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium in Daytona Beach in the first game of a four-game series.

Down 4-2 with two outs in the ninth, Longley crushed the first pitch of the at-bat easily clearing the wall in left to cut the Bethune-Cookman advantage to 4-3. It was Longley's third hit of the night and his second homerun of the season.

Sophomore Jimmy Falla singled to put the tying run on first but would be stranded there to end the game as pinch hitter sophomore Alex Mendez flew out to left for the game's final out.

Bethune-Cookman took a 1-0 lead in the bottom half of the first on Bulls starter Kyle Eastham on an RBI double by Peter O'Brien. Eastham did not a nice job to keep the damage at one after the Wildcats put three of the first four batters on base.

USF evened the score at one in the third on a wild pitch. The Bulls put runs on second and third with nobody out after back-to-back singles by Falla and junior Luis Llerena and a failed pickoff at first with one out.

Bethune-Cookman retook the lead scoring two runs in the fourth.  

The Bulls would make it 3-2 in the fifth after another wild pitch. This time it was Chad Taylor, who singled to start the inning, coming around to score, but the Wildcats tacked on an important fourth run in the sixth which would prove to be the eventual game-winner.

Eastham suffered his first loss of the season despite going 7.0 innings in his third straight start. He kept the Bulls in the game allowing four runs and striking out six, however six of the Wildcats hits off Eastham would be for extra bases.

Eastham retired the last nine batters he faced.

For the game, USF outhit the Wildcats, 10-6, led by Longley's three hits and Falla and junior Sam Mende picking up two hits apiece. Mende has now hit safely in six straight games.

USF and Bethune-Cookman will be back it again tomorrow at Jackie Robinson Stadium in Daytona as freshman Nick Gonzalez will take the mound for the Bulls. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m.

Game Notes
Tonight's game was played in 2:13… The starts for junior Luis Llerena and sophomore Jimmy Falla in the outfield were the first of their careers… Junior SS Sam Mende extended his hit streak to six games… Mende is 11 for his last 23 … With his single to leadoff the game, Jonathan Koscso tallied his fifth consecutive hit dating back to his last game… Eastham has went 7.0 innings or more in three straight starts… The earned runs were the first in three starts… USF leads the all-time series 49-12 with Bethune-Cookman.