MEMPHIS, TENN., APRIL 23, 2017 – The University of South Florida baseball team was defeated 5-1 in the series finale at Memphis. With victories in the first two games of the weekend set, the Bulls won the road series at Memphis for the first time since 2000.

In the opening frame, senior Luke Borders (Winter Haven, Fla.) hit a solo home run to give USF (32-8, 7-5 American) an initial lead. Redshirt-junior Peter Strzelecki (Lake Worth, Fla.) started for the Bulls, retiring the first nine batters he faced.

Down 1-0, Memphis (22-19, 4-8 American) went ahead with a bases-clearing double in the fourth.

Trailing 3-1, USF threatened in the eighth, loading the bases with one out. However, the Tigers were able to get out of the jam unscathed and added two more in the bottom half for the 5-1 victory.

Key Stats

• The Borders' home run in the first was his sixth of the season and his seventh hit of the series.
• Six Bulls tallied hits, led by sophomore Cameron Montgomery (Windermere, Fla.) who finished 2-for-4.
• Strzelecki tossed 5.1 innings, giving up four hits and three runs. His perfect game bid was broken up in the fifth. Strzelecki did not surrender a walk while striking out six.

Notables

• The Bulls move to 6-3 on the road and 25-21 all-time against the Tigers. 
• USF won its first four doubleheader contests of the season prior to the doubleheader split.

Up Next

The Bulls return home for their final stretch of the season which begins Wednesday against Stetson at 6:30 p.m.    

About USF Baseball

The University of South Florida baseball team is one of the fastest rising programs in the country. Under the guidance of head coach Mark Kingston, the Bulls reached the NCAA Regionals in 2015 for the first time in 13 years and USF followed that success with a consensus Top 10 recruiting class. Five players from that recruiting class were everyday starters in 2016 including outfielder Chris Chatfield (Riverview, Fla.), who led the team in home runs, and catcher Joe Genord (Lake Worth, Fla.), who was named the 2016 PGCBL Player of the Year. The Bulls won series from two ranked teams in 2016 (No. 21 East Carolina, No. 25 Michigan State, began the 2017 season with a series win over Iowa and earned just it's second win over a top-five team with a 4-2 victory against No. 3 Florida State on Feb. 21. The win over FSU was part of the best start in program history thanks to a 19-game winning streak, the second-longest in USF Baseball records.

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), visit GoUSFBulls.com for the most up-to-date information, and purchase tickets for upcoming games at USFBullsTix.com. For tickets, contact the USF Ticket Office at 1-800-Go-Bulls or by going online to USFBullsTix.com.

– #GoBulls –