CINCINNATI, APRIL 2, 2016 – The University of South Florida baseball team (15-12, 1-1 The American) was defeated 3-2 at Cincinnati (13-13, 1-1 The American) on Saturday night. The Bulls pulled within a run of the Bearcats in the top of the ninth inning but reliever Jarod Yoakam left the game-tying run at third and go-ahead run at second with a contest concluding groundout.
The series is now even at one game apiece. USF will be playing for their seventh straight series win when the two teams meet again on Sunday at noon.
The game on Saturday was played in less than ideal conditions with temperatures in the 40s and steady 25 mile per hour winds.
The Bulls inched ahead in the second inning, capitalizing on two singles to score on a Joe Genord (Lake Worth, Fla.) RBI groundout.
Pitcher Brandon Lawson (Brooksville, Fla.) maintained the 1-0 lead through the opening three innings, leaving two men aboard in the second and third.
Trailing by one, Cincinnati plated two unearned runs in the fourth to take the lead and added another run in the fifth for a 3-1 advantage.
The Bulls threatened to tie the game in the seventh. The first two batters reached base on singles but a sacrifice bunt attempt turned into a lead out at third and a double play ended the USF rally.
Behind 3-1, USF had one last rally in the ninth. Infielder Coco Montes (Miami) reached on a one out single as Yoakam then hit back-to-back batters to load the bases. Outfielder Daniel Portales (Tampa) brought the Bulls a run closer with a run scoring groundout but Yoakam induced a game ending groundout to even up the series.
Lawson (3-2) threw a complete game in the defeat. He delivered another quality start of 8.0 innings, allowing just three runs (one earned) on eight hits. Lawson also struck out four batters in the contest.
Villar finished 2-for-4 with a double and his first career triple. Montes also tallied two hits and a run scored. The RBI for Portales was his first this season.
USF right-hander Joe Cavallaro (Venice, Fla.) will be the Bulls' probable starter on Sunday. Cincinnati has not yet named their probable starter.
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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