Bulls Drop 12-Inning Heartbreaker to Gators
GAINESVILLE, Fla., JUNE, 3, 2017 – In the season's longest game of the year, the University of South Florida baseball team was defeated by Florida in a 12-inning battle, 5-1.
The top seed and host in the Gainesville Regional Gators (44-16) advance to Sunday's championship game. The second-seeded Bulls (42-18) will play Bethune-Cookman in the elimination game.
It was a pitcher's duel through the first two innings, as just one combined hit was allowed. But lightning struck near the campus and a 38-minute weather delay ensued. After the break in action, redshirt-freshman Shane McClanahan (Cape Coral, Fla.) was pulled and replaced by redshirt-senior Ryan Valdes, who got three-straight outs to strand a man at second.
The Gators were able to strike first with a single to left in the fourth, scoring a runner from second. But USF knotted things up in the fifth when sophomore Joe Genord (Lake Worth, Fla.) got on and scored on a Duke Stunkel Jr. (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) single.
Both teams had runners on from there, but junior righty Alex Faedo was stellar for Florida and the USF bullpen was lights out, taking the game into extras.
With the game in the 12th inning, the Gators got the lead-off man aboard off sophomore closer Andrew Perez (Orlando). Perez tossed to first for a pick-off attempt, but the throw sailed over the head of Genord, allowing pinch runner Blake Reese to advance to third.
Genord threw the ball to third to nab Reese, but his throw went high allowing Florida to take a 2-1 edge. The Gators notched a few more hits in the frame and plated three additional runs to take a 5-1 lead into the bottom half.
Closer Michael Byrne completed his 5.0 inning relief effort and handed the Bulls a hard-fought, yet difficult defeat.
Notables
- The Bullpen of Perez, Valdes and junior Joe Cavallaro (Venice, Fla.) combined for 9.1 innings and seven strikeouts.
- Cavallaro allowed just two hits and struck out two. Valdes allowed three hits and one run and Perez allowed just two hits but was credited with three earned runs. He tossed a season-high 63 pitches.
- Stunkel Jr. went 3-for-5 with a RBI. He now has seven hits in the regional.
- Genord reached base four times even though he went 1-for-3. He walked, was hit by a pitch, singled and reached on a wild pitch after a strike three swinging.
- All 15 of the game's hits were singles.
Quotes
Head coach Mark Kingston on his team bouncing back in game 5 of the regional:
"The way we played tonight and the way we have played all year has proven that we're a resilient bunch, so we'll be ready to go tomorrow. It was a hard-fought game, but we battled, had good at bats, the bullpen was outstanding, just a tough one to lose."
Up Next
USF will meet the Wildcats for a second time this weekend at noon ET Sunday.
The Bulls defeated Bethune 9-1 in the regional opener on Friday. Redshirt-junior Peter Strzelecki will get the start for the Bulls.
The game can be seen on ESPN3 or heard on AM 1040.
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, and earned just it's second and third wins over top-five teams with a 4-2 victory against No. 3 Florida State on Feb. 21 and 15-10 win at then-No. 5 Florida on May 9. 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. USF reached the 40-win mark for the first time since 1996.
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 –
