TAMPA, Fla., Feb. 24, 2018 – The University of South Florida baseball team bounced back from Friday's one-hit setback by clubbing 10 hits to even the weekend series with a 3-2 win over Fordham Saturday night.  

The Bulls' (2-4) offense woke up in the second inning, as they began the frame with three-straight singles courtesy of juniors David Villar (Pembroke Pines, Fla.), JD Dutka (Suwanee, Ga.) and Chris Chatfield (Riverview, Fla.). Two batters later, Tyler Dietrich (Naples, Fla.) came through with a bases clearing double down the right field line to put USF ahead 3-0.

The Rams (3-2-1) got one back in the fourth to make it 3-1 and had runners in scoring position in both the sixth and seventh innings, but USF got out unscathed. Junior closer Andrew Perez (Orlando) came on in the ninth and surrendered a solo homer with one out. But he retired the next two to preserve the win.

Key Stats
4 – Dietrich tallied a career-best four hits and went 4-for-4 on the night.
10 – The Bulls recorded 10 hits, the second time this year they reached double-digit hits.

Notables

• Dietrich also bashed two doubles, tying a career-high. His three RBI were a new career mark as well.  
• Senior righty Peter Strzelecki (Fort Worth, Fla.) bounced back strong with 5.0 innings allowing just five hits and one run. He scattered nine strikeouts across the outing, one off his career high.  
• Dutka went 2-for-4.

Quotables
Head coach Billy Mohl on Strzelecki's outing:
"It was a big bounce back for him, definitely what we needed. We needed him to settle back into the pitcher we know he can be."
 
Coach Mohl talking about the offensive resurgence after only having one hit Friday:
"The bats took a much better approach, cut down on the strikeouts and took aggressive at-bats. Nothing was left on the table, we took advantage when we needed to."
 
Coach Mohl speaking to Dietrich's career night:
"TD is our catcher, and to see him have a night like tonight was awesome. He does a great job with our pitchers and to see what he did with the bat tonight was huge."

Up Next
The Bulls and Rams wrap up the three-game series with a Sunday matinee rubber match beginning at 1 p.m.   

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.