CINCINNATI, APRIL 3, 2016 – The University of South Florida baseball team (15-13, 1-2 The American) received a game-tying, two-run, ninth inning home run from Cameron Montgomery (Windermere, Fla.) to force extra innings in what turned out to be a 4-3, 14 inning defeat at Cincinnati (14-13, 2-1 The American) on Sunday afternoon.
Down 3-1, Montgomery's home run, the first of his career, evened up the score in the top of the ninth. Cincinnati won the game on a 14th inning pinch-hit Joey Thomas RBI double.
In the beginning, the Bearcats plated a run in the second and third innings for the 2-0 advantage.
USF cut the deficit in half on a Chris Chatfield (Riverview, Fla.) solo home run in the fourth. It was his team leading seventh home run of the season.
Up 2-1, Cincinnati widened the lead with another RBI single in the home half of the fourth.
Trailing by two, the Bulls brought the tying run to the plate in every inning from the fifth to the ninth but were unable to even up the score until the last scheduled inning.
In the ninth, USF received a pinch hit one out double from Joe Genord (Lake Worth, Fla.). The Bulls were then down to their final strike when Montgomery hit a game-tying, two-run home run to left field. It was his first collegiate home run and it deadlocked the game at three.
Bulls reliever Tommy Eveld (Tampa), who entered the game in the eighth, worked around trouble in the ninth to leave the would be game-winning run at second.
In the 10th, USF had first and second with no outs but Cincinnati reliever A.J. Kollman kept the game tied 3-3.
Cincinnati tried to end the game in the 11th by building a two-out rally, but Eveld induced an inning-ending flyout to send the game to the 12th.
In the 12th, Eveld also encountered a bases loaded two out jam before he struck out Ryan Noda to continue the game.
Neither team was able to go ahead in the 13th. The Bearcats would win the game just one inning later.
The loss ends a program record, six series winning streak to begin the season.
USF starting pitcher Joe Cavallaro (Venice, Fla.) received the no decision, despite allowing just three runs over 7.0 innings. He retired the final 11 batters he faced and also struck out nine batters.
Eveld tossed 5.0 scoreless innings of two-hit baseball.
Reliever Andrew Perez (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) threw 1.2 innings at the end of the game.
Nine different Bulls players recorded at least one hit in the game.
Designated hitter Luke Borders (Winter Haven, Fla.) extended his hitting streak to a team-high seven straight games with a sixth inning single.
Infielder Coco Montes (Miami) reached base three times including two hits which matches his career high.
USF's next game will be at Stetson on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
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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