ORLANDO, Fla., APRIL 17, 2016 – The University of South Florida baseball team (17-19, 3-6 The American) was defeated 6-5 in the series finale at UCF (20-18, 5-4 The American) on Sunday afternoon. The Knights plated two runs in the bottom of the eighth to take a 6-4 advantage to the final inning, where UCF withstood a USF run and a bases loaded threat for the one run victory.
At the start of the game, the Bulls pounced early for a three run first inning. Facing UCF right-hander Juan Pimentel, USF built a one out rally, plating two runs on a David Villar (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) double to right field and tacked on another with a sacrifice fly from designated hitter Luke Borders (Winter Haven, Fla.).
With a 3-0 lead, Bulls starter Joe Cavallaro (Venice, Fla.) retired the first seven batters he faced.
The Knights closed the gap with two runs in the third and went ahead with two more runs in the fifth.
Trailing 4-3, USF responded in the sixth when Luke Borders hit a home run to right field. The game-tying blast was his second home run of the season, and evened up the game at four.
Cavallaro threw 5.0 innings in the no decision. The righty yielded four runs on seven hits in the contest.
Reliever Brad Labozzetta (Lakeland, Fla.) then entered the game to throw a scoreless sixth and seventh innings. But after allowing a leadoff walk in the eighth, Labozzetta was lifted for reliever Tommy Eveld (Tampa). UCF then pieced together a sacrifice bunt and a single up the middle to take a 5-4 advantage. The Knights added another run later in the inning for a two run cushion.
Behind 6-4, USF started the ninth with leadoff singles from Joe Genord (Lake Worth, Fla.) and Jonah Garrison (Orlando, Fla.). Outfielder Garrett Zech (Naples, Fla.) then put down a sacrifice bunt to place both runners into scoring position. The Bulls drew a run closer on a UCF fielding error and loaded the bases with one out. With the tying run at third and go ahead runner at second, reliever Trent Thompson then forced two consecutive pop ups to end the game.
UCF wins the series two games to one.
All Bulls starters posted at least one hit each in the loss.
Luke Borders recorded his first multi-hit game of the season. The two RBIs marked his fourth multi-RBI game of the year.
Outfielder Duke Stunkel Jr. (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) notched two hits and a run scored. He has now hit safely in nine straight games. It was also his first start in left field this season.
Infielder Coco Montes (Miami) had two hits as well, his team leading 11th multi-hit game this year.
Catcher Tyler Dietrich (Naples, Fla.) also had a hit, moving his hitting streak to six straight games.
USF returns home to host Bethune-Cookman on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. It will be the team's Military Appreciation Night at USF Baseball Stadium. Reserve your seats at USFBullsTix.com.
The University of South Florida baseball team is one of the fastest rising programs in the country. Under the guidance of first year head coach Mark Kingston, the Bulls reached the NCAA Regionals last season for the first time in 13 years and USF followed that success with a consensus Top 10 recruiting class. The team returns outfielder Kevin Merrell, who was named an NCBWA Freshmen All-American last season after leading the Bulls in batting average (.346), runs (45), hits (83) and stolen bases (21). Senior catcher Levi Borders and senior outfielder Luke Maglich were both selected to the 2016 Preseason All-Conference Team in the AAC. The USF Baseball program has won five conference titles and the Bulls have made 11 NCAA appearances. Follow the baseball team on social media (Twitter | Facebook | Instagram) and visit GoUSFBulls.com for the most up-to-date information.
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