Bulls Face UNF Wednesday in Final Game before Conference Play
Matchup: USF (15-6) at North Florida (10-12)
Date: Wednesday, March 21
Time: 6:05 p.m.
Location: Jacksonville, Fla., | Harmon Stadium (1,250)
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TAMPA, MARCH 20, 2018 – The University of South Florida baseball team heads back to Jacksonville for its final non-conference tune up, as it battle North Florida Wednesday at 6:05 p.m..
The Bulls (15-6) are riding high after their second-straight series sweep and eighth-straight win over the weekend. USF took three from Army, beginning with a dominant outing from All-American
Shane McClanahan (Cape Coral, Fla.) and righty
Carson Ragsdale (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) on Friday. The two tossed USF's first combined no-hitter and collectively struck out a program record 22 batters.
McClanahan struck out a career-high 15 and extended his NCAA-best scoreless innings streak to 30.2 to start the season. He leads the country with 56 strikeouts and over 16 strikeouts per nine innings.
The offense was nothing to sniff at, as four Bulls hit over .400 this past weekend. Junior
Coco Montes (Miami) hit .667,
Garrett Zech (Naples, Fla.) hit .455 with a triple, his first homer of the season and four RBI,
Duke Stunkel Jr. (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) hit .429 and
Joe Genord (Lake Worth, Fla.) hit .455 with two homers, four runs and five RBI.
Genord and McClanahan swept the American Athletic Conference weekly awards, as Genord was named the Player of the Week and McClanahan was named the Pitcher of the Week.
McClanahan and Ragsdale were both named Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's National Players of the Week. Genord was also named the NCBWA National Player of the Week after hitting .500 with four homers and 11 RBI in five games.
Freshman righty
Baron Stuart (Okeechobee, Fla.) will make his fourth start of the year on Wednesday. He has gone 5.0+ innings in each of his starts and is 2-1 with a 3.18 ERA.
SERIES HISTORY
The Bulls and Ospreys are meeting for the 16
th time Wednesday. USF holds an 8-7 edge in the series dating back to 2006. The Bulls have won two-straight games vs. UNF, sweeping last year's home-and-home.
SCOUTING REPORT
The Ospreys are 10-12 on the season, and just 1-6 in midweek games. But UNF has won its last four weekend series, most recently taking 2-of-3 from Memphis. Tanner Murphy leads the Ospreys with a .326 average, 16 runs, six doubles, three homers and 16 RBI.
Frank German has been the ace of the staff with a 1.40 ERA and 34 strikeouts over 25.2 innings. Cooper Bradford will get the start on Wednesday. He's 1-1 with a 5.79 ERA in six appearances, two starts.
NOTA-BULLS
- The 22 strikeouts against Army on Friday were the second most in American Athletic Conference history and the second most by a team this season.
- David Villar (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) continues to lead USF with a .397 average. His 10 doubles are ninth in the country.
- USF is second in the nation with 60 doubles and leads The American in hitting (.297) and scoring (7.0).
- Zech has five triples this season, ranking second nationally.
- USF's 211 hits on the year are tops in The American.
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 –
