ORLANDO, FLA., MAY 20, 2017 – The University of South Florida baseball team dropped the regular-season finale to UCF, 3-2, Saturday in Orlando.

The Bulls (40-15, 14-10 The American) hit three singles up the middle in the first inning to take a 1-0 lead. But the Knights (38-18, 15-9 The American) struck twice in the bottom half to take a 2-1 edge.

After UCF added one more in the third, pitching settled down for both sides until USF finally got to freshman Joseph Sheridan in the seventh. The Bulls put two men aboard with one out, then a Kevin Merrell (Odessa, Fla.) grounder to first was thrown to second for the force, but went wide and into left field. Cameron Montgomery (Windermere, Fla.) scored to make it 3-2 with one out and two on.

A double steal was applied by the Bulls and executed, but Duke Stunkel Jr. (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) was called for batters interference, moving the runners back and giving the Bulls their second out. A strikeout immediately ensued to end the threat.

UCF was able to hold off the Bulls in the final two innings to clinch a share of the regular-season title in The American and the top seed in next week's tournament.

Key Stats

• Redshirt-junior Peter Strzelecki (Lake Worth, Fla.) tossed 4.2 allowing five hits and three runs.
• Sophomore Andrew Perez (Orlando) tossed the final 3.1 innings of three-hit ball, struck out four and did not allow a walk.
• Senior Luke Borders (Winter Haven, Fla.) and sophomore Joe Genord (Lake Worth, Fla.) each went 2-for-4.
• Merrell had a run and a RBI.  

Notables

• The Bulls finish the regular season fourth in The American. There was a four-way tie for first entering Saturday.
• Houston and UCF both won, giving the league co-champions. But the Knights own the tiebreaker and will be the top seed in the tourney.
• UConn lost as well and are tied with the Bulls, but own the tiebreaker and will be the third seed.
• Tulane, Cincinnati, Memphis and ECU are seeds 5-through-8, respectively.

Up Next

The Bulls begin their quest for their first conference tournament title since 1995 when they open up the league's tourney in Clearwater against the Green Wave, Tuesday at 3:00 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.

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