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GAINESVILLE (May 30, 2015)— In the winner's bracket of the Gainesville Regional, the USF baseball team fell to host Florida, 8-2, Saturday night.
Down 5-0, the Bulls got on the board in the bottom of the eighth on a two-out RBI double by Levi Borders. Kyle Teaf and Kevin Merrell hit back-to-back one-out singles, before Teaf came home on the double by Borders.
In the ninth, Luke Borders and Austin Lueck singled to put two on for pinch-hitter Clay Simmons. Simmons reached on a fielder's choice to put runners on the corners with one out. Nik Alfonso, pinch hitting for Zac Gilcrease, roped an RBI single down the left field line to drive in the Bulls second run of the night.
USF (34-25-1) had one of its best scoring chances in the first inning. Teaf drew a leadoff walk before advancing on a Merrell single. With two outs on the board, Buddy Putnam singled to the shortstop to load the bases, before a called third strike would end the inning and the Bulls scoring opportunity.
Florida (46-16) got on the board first in the top of the third inning on a two-run home run by Buddy Reed. Dalton Guthrie drew a walk to start off the inning before Reed hit a 1-0 count over the right field wall.
The Gators tacked on another two runs on a two-out, two-run home run by Harrison Bader in the fourth. In the fifth, a two-out RBI double by Jeremy Vasquez gave the Gators a 5-0 lead.
In the ninth, Florida tacked on three runs on a two-RBI single by Peter Alonso and a throwing error.
Merrell picked up his 30th multi-hit game of the season, going 2-for-4 at the plate. Teaf was 1-for-3 with a run and is now 5-for-8 in regional play.
A.J. Puk picked up the win for Florida, throwing seven shutout innings and striking out eight.
Ryan Valdes took the loss, giving up five runs on ten hits in six innings of work. Valdes walked three and recorded three strikeouts. Tommy Eveld came on in relief and worked two scoreless innings, giving up just one hit and striking out a pair. Jordan Strittmatter threw the final inning of the game, giving up three runs (two earned) on one hit.
USF will face FAU in an elimination game Sunday, May 31, at noon on ESPN 3. The winner of that game will advance to face Florida at 4 p.m. on the SEC Network/ESPN 3.
For more information on the USF baseball team, follow @USFBaseball on Twitter.
- #GoBulls -
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