By KY-SHON HEPBURN

Special to GoUSFBulls.com

TAMPA – The Bulls nabbed their third win of the season in their home opener on Friday night.

Chris Norton batted 2-for-3 with three runs and one RBI to help lead the Bulls past Toledo, 7-5, before a crowd of 1,156 at USF baseball complex.

“We got our work cutout all weekend because they'll compete,” said head coach Lelo Prado. “We took one major step today and we got to take another one tomorrow.”

Starting pitcher Jimmy Herget (1-1) pitched six innings giving up two runs on four hits and nine strikeouts.  The freshman earned his first win of the season.

“It starts on the mound and Herget was outstanding,” said Prado.

Toledo jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when Matt Delewski crossed the plate in the first inning.  Delewski followed with a double to left field to score Deion Tansel to give the Rockets a 2-1 lead in the third inning.

The Bulls answered with runs of their own in the second and third innings.  USF scored 5 runs on 5 hits to take a 5-2 lead.

Kyle Teaf led off the fourth inning with a single and James Ramsay followed with a double to the warning track to extend the Bulls lead to 6-2.  Kyle Copack added another run to the scoreboard in the fifth on a ground out that plated Chris Norton.

“We competed and our hitters are responding,” said Prado.

The Rockets rallied in the seventh inning batting in three runs to cut the Bulls lead to 7-5 but the would not get any closer.

The Bulls hope to extend their two-game winning streak when they face Toledo in the second game of the series 6 p.m. Saturday at USF baseball complex.