MEMPHIS (April 17, 2015)— Jimmy Herget had an outstanding outing and Casey Mulholland threw his second complete-game as the Bulls split a doubleheader with Memphis Friday.
The Bulls (26-13-1, 8-3 American) are still at the top of the league with a two-game advantage. With a loss to ECU by UConn, USF remains the only team under five losses.
In the opening game of the doubleheader, the Bulls picked up a 6-2 win to earn their fourth straight Friday victory in conference play.
Trailing 1-0 after the second, the Bulls tied the game in the fourth on a two-out RBI double by Austin Lueck. Luke Borders led off the inning with his second hit of the game, before being driven in on the Lueck double.
In the sixth, the Bulls opened up the game with a two-run shot by Luke Maglich. Luke Borders reached base in the leadoff spot for the third time in the game before Maglich turned on a 0-1 count and hit his sixth home run of the season over the right field wall.
With a 3-1 lead, Buddy Putnam walked and Lueck was hit by a pitch to put two on with no outs. Daniel Portales laid down a sacrifice bunt but an errant throw allowed him to reach second, Lueck to move to third and Putnam to score. A one-out walk to Teaf loaded the bases, and a two-out walk to Levi Borders plated the fourth run of the inning to put USF up 5-1.
In the ninth, the Bulls began a two-out rally with Luke Borders' third single of the day. Maglich followed with a single of his own before an RBI single by Putnam plated Borders.
Memphis (24-12, 6-5 American) tacked on a run in the bottom of the ninth on an RBI groundout, but reliever Mark Savarese limited the damage to just the one run.
Junior right-hander Jimmy Herget earned the win, throwing 7.1 innings, scattering six hits and one walk, while giving up just one run. Reliever Tommy Peterson threw just two-thirds of an inning, picking up two outs on four pitches. Savarese threw an inning, giving up just one run on two hits.
In game two, Memphis jumped on right-handed starter Casey Mulholland early, plating three runs on five hits in the third inning. With two outs, the Tigers put together four straight hits to push across three runs.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Tigers once again took advantage of having two outs, pushing across a run on an RBI single. Tucker Tubbs hit a two-out double and came around to score on a Chris Carrier single.
The Bulls avoided the shutout in the ninth inning thanks to an RBI single by Maglich with two outs. Merrell led off the inning with his 18th bunt single of the season and advanced all the way to third on an errant throw. After the Borders brothers both struck out, Maglich singled to score Merrell.
Despite the loss, Mulholland struck out 10 and walked just one in his second eight-inning complete game effort of the season.
The Bulls and Tigers will meet for the final game of the series on Saturday, April 17, at 3 p.m., weather permitting.
For more information on the USF baseball team, follow @USFBaseball on Twitter.
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