Bulls Welcome Fordham to Tampa for A Three-Game Series
Matchup: USF (1-3) vs. Fordham (2-1-1)
Dates: Friday, Feb. 23 – Sunday, Feb. 25
Times: 7 p.m. | 6:30 p.m. | 1 p.m.
Location: Tampa, Fla., | USF Baseball Stadium (3,211)
Tickets: USFBullsTix.com
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TAMPA, Feb. 22, 2018 – After an exciting opening weekend again UNC, the University of South Florida baseball team is back home for a three-game series against Fordham, starting Friday at 7 p.m.
The Bulls (1-3) were tied 1-1 in the eighth inning at No. 5 Florida State on Tuesday, but surrendered four runs in the bottom half. USF got one back in the ninth before falling 5-2.
Junior outfielder
Chris Chatfield (Riverview, Fla.) went 2-for-4 with a double and a RBI and sophomore
Carson Ragsdale (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) had a double and a run.
Redshirt sophomore left-hander
Shane McClanahan (Cape Coral, Fla.) will make his encore following a six scoreless, 11 strikeout outing in the season opener against UNC. He was named the American Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week on Monday. Sophomore righty
Collin Sullivan (Randolph, Mass.) struck out a career high of eight batters in his second-career start on Sunday.
WEEKEND PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday – LHP
Shane McClanahan vs. RHP Ben Greenberg
Saturday – RHP
Peter Strzelecki vs. RHP Reiss Knehr
Sunday – RHP
Collin Sullivan vs. RHP Mike Cowell
SERIES HISTORY
The Bulls and Rams are meeting for just the 14
th time on Friday and for the first time since 1996. USF has won nine-straight games in the series. The Bulls have only lost in the first ever meeting in 1987 and again in 1992, both being one-run defeats. USF has scored at least six runs in all 11 of its wins against Fordham and is averaging 11.8 runs per victory.
SCOUTING REPORT
Thanks to a rare 80 degree February afternoon in the Bronx, the Rams played their earliest home opener in program history on Wednesday. Fordham defeated Army to improve to 2-1-1 on the year. Jake Baker leads the Rams offensively with a .333 average. Nick Labella (.308) and C.J. Vasquez (.300) have had strong starts to the season, with the former being one-of-three Rams to have tallied a team-high three RBI. The other is Billy Godrick, who has two homers.
Brian Weissert has been stout out of the bullpen with 5.1 scoreless innings of one-hit baseball. Ben Greenberg went 3.0 innings in his lone start, did not allow a hit and struck out four. Reiss Knehr allowed three runs on two hits in two innings in his first start and Mike Cowell allowed four hits and a run on 3.0 innings.
NOTABLES
- Before last weekend against No. 6 UNC, the Bulls had not lost a home non-conference series of three games or more since 2012. They are 22-1-1 in such series.
- Sophomore left hander Noah Yager (Davie, Fla.) has logged 4.0 innings this season and has allowed just three hits. He tossed 3.0 scoreless against FSU on Tuesday.
About USF Baseball
The University of South Florida baseball team is one of the fastest rising programs in the country. The Bulls reached the NCAA Regionals in 2015 for the first time in 13 years and followed that success with a 42-19 record and second NCAA regional trip in three years in 2017. The Bulls earned just their second and third wins over top-five ranked teams with victories against then-No. 3 Florida State and at then-No. 5 Florida during the 2017 season. During the 2017 season, USF reached the 40-win mark for the first time since 1996 and entered the top-25 in the major collegiate baseball polls for the first time since 2013. The USF Baseball program has won five conference titles and the Bulls have made 12 NCAA appearances.
– #GoBulls –
