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Clearwater, May 24, 2014 – USF got an outstanding pitching performance from freshman Brandon Lawson tossing six innings of five-hit ball but lost a tough 2-1 ballgame to Memphis in the final pool play game of the American Athletic Conference Championship at Bright House Field in Clearwater.
“It was a great performance by Brandon Lawson,” said head coach Lelo Prado. “I wanted to get three of four innings from him and he gave us that outing. That's a freshman who has a bright future ahead of him.”
Memphis scored the game's first run in the first inning on a RBI ground out by Jake Little. Darrien Tubbs scored on the play who led off the game with a triple.
It was the only extra-base hit for Memphis off of Lawson who allowed just four hits the rest of the way and struck out three.
USF had runners on base in four of the first six innings but stranded seven runners over that stretch.
The Bulls got new life in the seventh inning when Kyle Teaf hit a high chopper on a full count to beat out an infield single allowing pinch runner Hayden Kelley to score and tie the game at 1-1. Kelley, who pinch ran for Nik Alfonso, stole second base and reached third on a wild pitch.
In the eighth, Zac Gilcrease started the frame for USF with a single to centerfield but was stranded. An inning later, Austin Lueck and Teaf each reached with two outs but were unable to cross the plate.
That set the stage for Memphis in the bottom of the ninth as Darrien Tubbs doubled in the right-centerfield gap bringing home Corey Chafin for the game-winning run.
“Give Memphis credit, they had nothing to play for and they battled hard,” said Prado. “I am proud of our guys too because they played just as hard.”
The season comes to a close for USF with a 27-31 record while Memphis wraps up its season at 30-29.
This also signifies the end of a great coaching career for Prado who will join the USF senior administrative staff as the associate director of athletics for administration and external services. He finishes his 26 year coaching career with 849 wins including 251 at USF.
In his final words to the team after the game, Prado told them “thank you for your effort and give the new coach everything you got to get this team to a regional and win a championship.”
Offensively, Teaf went 2-for-3 with a walk and RBI while Lueck also had two hits going 2-for-5. USF stranded 11 runners on base in the contest. Lawrence Pardo was struck with the loss falling to 0-3 on the season. Lawson went six innings allowing just five hits and one run while punching out three.
Craig Caufield picked up the win for Memphis improving to 2-2. He tossed 2.2 innings of shutout ball for the Tigers. Dylan Toscano started the ballgame going 6.1 innings giving up a run on five hits and a walk. Tubbs had three of Memphis' seven hits on the night.
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