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By TOM ZEBOLD

USF Senior Writer

TAMPA, FEB. 18, 2015 – Kyle Teaf and Luke Borders drove in runs in the Bulls' 13-3 loss to No. 5 Florida before a crowd of 2,059 at USF Baseball Stadium on Wednesday night.

USF (2-2) cut its deficit to 6-2 with a two-run seventh inning before the Gators put the game out of reach with a seven-run eighth in the Bulls' home opener.

“I told the team that it was one game. I want us to have an attitude that we hate to lose to anybody, especially an in-state rival. That being said we have to move on,” head coach Mark Kingston said.

USF's bats heated up in the late innings after Florida starter Brett Morales (1-0) struck out seven in six perfect innings.  

“He's a weekend starter a lot of times for them for a reason. He had exceptional command tonight,” Kingston said. “He was ahead of hitters all night with very good stuff. If you do that you can do what he did tonight.”

Florida (4-0) grabbed the lead in the first inning with a two-run double by cleanup hitter Harrison Bader. The Gators tacked on another run in the second inning with an RBI single by Buddy Reed before USF starter Tommy Peterson settled in.

Peterson faced three batters in the third inning and struck out his fourth batter of the game in a scoreless fourth inning. The redshirt freshman right-hander faced four batters in the fifth inning and exited after JJ Schwarz's two-run homer extended Florida's lead to 5-0.

Peterson (0-1) was charged with three earned runs on seven hits and struck out six in his first start of the season. The New Port Richey, Fla., native earned the save in the season-opening win over No. 17 Cal State Fullerton by tossing two scoreless frames.

Florida went to the bullpen after Morales' six perfect innings and the Bulls' bats quickly made noise in the seventh inning.

Freshman Kevin Merrell (Odessa, Fla.) reached on an error and headed home on an RBI single by Teaf that cut the deficit to 6-1. Left-hander Danny Young's night was over with two outs in the inning after Luke Borders hit an RBI single up the middle. Borders, a sophomore from Winter Haven, Fla., has six RBIs in four games this season.

USF's comeback attempt was thwarted by a seven-run eighth inning by the Gators that featured a three-run triple by Schwarz. The Bulls capped off the scoring with a run in the eighth when Austin Lueck jetted home on a passed ball. Lueck, a senior from Daytona, Fla., got into scoring position by rocketing a one-out triple to left-center field.

“That's a top-five team and we're not right now. It's a good glimpse of where we want to be someday,” Kingston said. “It's back to the drawing board and back to work tomorrow.”

The Bulls continue their homestand with a three-game series against Wagner that begins 6:30 p.m. Friday at USF Baseball Stadium. Saturday's game is set for a 6:30 p.m. start and Sunday's series finale begins at 1 p.m. Get great deals on season tickets and mini-plans HERE.

For more information on the USF baseball team, follow @USFBaseball on Twitter.