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TAMPA (March 29, 2015)— A ten-run seventh inning, capped off by a Buddy Putnam walk-off grand slam, powered the Bulls to a 15-4 win over Cincinnati for their first conference sweep of the season.

Heading into the bottom of the seventh, the Bulls led by just one run and ended leading by 11. Levi Borders led off with a single before Luke Borders and Putnam were issued back-to-back walks to load the bases for Luke Maglich. A fielder's choice erased Levi at home, but reloaded the bases for Daniel Portales.

An error by the Cincinnati shortstop allowed Putnam and Luke Borders to score and put runners on the corners for Andres Leal. Leal executed a perfect sacrifice bunt to plate Maglich and move Portales to second.

With two outs and just one runner on, Austin Lueck was walked before Kyle Teaf reached on an error to reload the bases. Kevin Merrell was hit by a pitch, Levi Borders walked and Luke Borders took a hit by pitch to drive in three runs and continue to keep the bases loaded. In his second at bat of the inning, Putnam launched the first pitch he saw over the right field wall for a walk-off grand slam as USF run-ruled Cincinnati.

"Buddy has given us great at bats, but great at-bats with power," head coach Mark Kingston said. "He's always been a singles hitter but this year he's adding power to his game and that's really important to us." 

The Bulls got the scoring started early, plating two runs in the first on a Levi Borders RBI single and Putnam sacrifice fly. Cincinnati scored three unanswered runs between the second and fourth innings to take the lead.

The Bulls came back out on top in the fifth on Putnam's first home run of the day. After Cincinnati tied the game at four in the top of the sixth, Lueck hit an RBI double to give USF the one-run lead heading into the seventh.

Putnam went 2-for-3 at the plate with seven RBI and his second multiple-home run game of the season. In the last four games, the senior has hit four home runs to lead the team with six. Levi Borders had a perfect day at the plate, going 3-for-3 with two RBI and two walks. Every starter recorded at least one run on the day.

Ryan Valdes picked up the win, throwing 2.2 innings of two hit ball and giving up just one run, while Tommy Peterson picked up his eighth save.

USF is the lone undefeated team in the conference and capped off the month of March with a perfect 12-0 home record. In the last six games, the Bulls have totaled nine home runs, with Putnam owning six of them.

The Bulls are back in action Tuesday, March 31, as they take on Stetson at 6:30 p.m. in DeLand, Fla.

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

- #GoBulls -