By TOM ZEBOLD

USF Senior Writer

TAMPA - USF's solid string of outings on the mound came unraveled Wednesday night.

North Florida pounded out 18 hits and handed the Bulls a 9-1 loss before a home opener crowd of 1,234 at USF Baseball Stadium.

Starter Kyle Parker (0-1) lasted 3 2/3 innings after allowing seven hits and walking two while facing 20 batters. Two of the four runs scored against left-hander went unearned before the Bulls finished with three errors in the field.

"They came out and put some runs on the board," USF head coach Lelo Prado said. "We have to pitch better and make plays on the left side of that infield."

Nick Gonzalez, who was valuable on opening weekend, gave up six hits and two runs in 2 2/3 innings. The left-hander got the win in the Bulls' season opener against Ohio State after throwing 3 2/3 shutout innings.

Alex Mendez, Daniel Rockhold, James Ramsay and Buddy Putnam all went 1-for-4 with Putnam scoring the Bulls' run on a single by Andrew Longley.

"They just outplayed us, plain and simple," Prado said.

Prado is determined to improve his defense in practice after the Bulls committed just two errors in the team's first three games.

"We have to fix that for us to be a good club," Prado said.

The Bulls don't have to wait long to get back on track with a home series against Bethune-Cookman starting 7 p.m. Friday. The teams play single games 6 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.