CINCINNATI, APRIL 1, 2016 – The University of South Florida baseball team (15-11) won its American Athletic Conference season opener 5-3 at Cincinnati (12-13) on Friday evening. The victory is the 15th straight conference season opening win for USF. The Bulls win also marks the first home defeat for the Bearcats, who were 10-0 at Marge Schott Stadium to begin the season.
“I thought tonight was a good team win,” said USF head baseball coach Mark Kingston. “Our pitching was solid, our defense was solid and we got some really big, key hits. That is what it takes to win games in this conference; You have to play well in all three areas.”
USF burst ahead in the second inning. Facing Cincinnati starter Andrew Zellner, the Bulls had seven consecutive hitters reach base including a two-run double by infielder David Villar (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) and RBI singles from both Luke Maglich (Sarasota, Fla.) and Kevin Merrell (Odessa, Fla.).
Down by four, the Bearcats clawed back with a run in the bottom half of the inning. USF limited Cincinnati to only one run in the frame when pitcher Phoenix Sanders (Gainesville, Fla.) weaved out of a bases loaded jam with an inning-ending groundout.
Trailing 4-1, the Bearcats plated another run on a fielder's choice in the fifth. USF also cut off more runs from coming home when outfielder Chris Chatfield (Riverview, Fla.) made a crashing catch at the left field wall to finish the inning.
Ahead by two, USF padded its lead in the seventh. Villar led off with a double, his second of the game, and was brought home on a Maglich RBI fielder's choice.
Leading 5-2, Sanders retired the final seven batters he faced in his 7.0 innings of work. The right-hander yielded just two runs on seven hits while striking out five. Sanders improves to 3-1 with his fifth quality start of the year.
Pitcher Tommy Eveld (Tampa) then relieved Sanders following the seventh. Catcher Woody Wallace hit an eighth inning home run and Cincinnati got the tying run to the plate in the ninth, but Eveld worked 2.0 innings of one-run baseball to cement the Bulls win.
With the victory, USF still has not been defeated in the conference season opener dating back to 2001.
Villar ended the night 2-for-3 with two doubles, a run scored, and two RBIs. Maglich also notched two RBIs in the game. Catcher Tyler Dietrich (Naples, Fla.) tied his career-high with two hits as well.
The save for Eveld was his conference-leading sixth of the season.
USF will try to win the series on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. USF will have right-hander Brandon Lawson (Brooksville, Fla.) on the mound against lefty J.T. Perez.
The Bulls return home to host Memphis (April 8-10) 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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