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By TOM ZEBOLD

USF Senior Writer

CLEARWATER, FEB. 13, 2015 – The Mark Kingston era at USF began with a “humungous” win on opening night at Bright House Field.

Jimmy Herget and the pitching staff racked up 15 strikeouts while Luke Borders delivered the go-ahead hit in a 2-1 victory over No. 17 Cal State Fullerton on Friday at the USF Opening Weekend Challenge.

“That's the program that we want to be someday. They were on the cover of Baseball America as the premier program in the last 20 years in college baseball,” Kingston said. “To come out here on opening day and go toe-to-toe with them and come out with a win at the end, I'm very proud of what our guys did tonight.”

With plenty of scouts in the stands, Herget thrived in the spotlight, striking out nine while allowing an earned run on one hit in five innings. Freshman Joe Cavallaro (1-0) followed with two scoreless innings and Tommy Peterson earned the save after striking out four and allowing one hit in the final two innings.

“What you hope as coaches is if you put them in big situations and show confidence in them they'll have confidence in themselves,” Kingston said. “One after another, we gave them a role and guys executed their role very well.”

Herget ranked eighth nationally with a 1.26 ERA in 2014 and USF's ace picked right up where he left off against the Titans. The right-hander from Tampa struck out the side in the first inning and had eight strikeouts through three innings.

Herget fell four short of his career high of 13 strikeouts and the only hit the former Jefferson High School standout gave up was a bloop, two-out single by Taylor Bryant that put Cal State Fullerton ahead, 1-0, in the third inning.

“Everything I heard about Jimmy Herget I saw tonight,” Kingston said. “… He's as advertised and I know he had a little bit of a chip on his shoulder. He wants to show that he can pitch with anybody in the country. I think he did that tonight.”

USF nearly tied the game in the bottom of the third after Zac Gilcrease hit a two-out triple to right-center and the Bulls broke through with two runs in the sixth inning. Freshman Kevin Merrell hit a one-out single and made it to third a batter later when Levi Borders doubled to left field. That set the stage for Luke Borders, who rocketed a two-run single through the right side to give the Bulls the lead.

“What we're going to try to do is not ask guys to do too much. We're going to try to put them in positions where they can be successful and I thought tonight was a good example,” Kingston said.

Titans starter Thomas Eshelman (0-1) took the loss after giving two earned runs on five hits in six innings. The junior right-hander struck out 10 after finishing last season with Baseball America Second-Team All-America honors.

“We're not going downplay that this was a humungous win for us because it was,” Kingston said. “But tomorrow we have another great challenge and Louisville is another tremendous program and we'll be ready to play them.”

The Bulls continue their run at the USF Opening Weekend Challenge with a test against the No. 7 Cardinals 6 p.m. Saturday back at Bright House Field. USF finishes up the weekend 3 p.m. Sunday with a game against Alabama State. Tickets can be purchased at the Bright House Field box office.

The Bulls' home opener against No. 5 Florida is set for Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 6:30 p.m. Get great deals on season tickets and mini-plans HERE.