Bulls Begin Conference Play at Home Against UConn
Matchup: USF (16-6) vs. UConn (10-7)
Dates: Friday, March 23 – Sunday, March 25
Times: 7 p.m. | 6:30 p.m. | 1 p.m.
Location: Tampa, Fla., | USF Baseball Stadium (3,211)
Follow: Stats |
Listen | Watch (Friday –
American Digital Network)(Saturday-Sunday –
Facebook Live)
Game Notes
TAMPA, MARCH 22, 2018 – The University of South Florida baseball team opens American Athletic Conference season Friday night with the start of a three-game set against UConn. Friday's game can be seen on American Digital Network at 7 p.m.
The Bulls (16-6) won their ninth-straight game Wednesday with a 12-5 victory at North Florida. The offense continued to dominate opposing pitching with 16 hits, the 14
th game with double-digit hits this year.
Junior
JD Dutka (Suwanee, Ga.) had a career night with a personal best four hits and four runs scored on a triple, double and two singles.
Coco Montes (Miami) continued his hot stretch with his third-straight game of three hits, while adding three RBI. The bullpen was lights out, tossing the final 5.0 scoreless innings.
Fresh off throwing 6.0 hitless innings with a career-high 15 strikeouts in last Friday's combined no-htitter, All-American
Shane McClanahan (Cape Coral, Fla.) returns to the mound on Friday night. He leads the nation with 30.2 scoreless innings on the year and is tops in the country with 56 strikeouts.
Redshirt senior
Peter Strzelecki (Lake Worth, Fla.) will go Saturday, looking for a third-straight 7.0 inning outing. In his last four starts, he has logged 24.0 innings, surrendered just 16 hits, four runs, and has 36 strikeouts. Sophomore righty
Collin Sullivan (Randolph, Mass.) will pitch Sunday.
SERIES HISTORY
The Bulls own a 30-26 edge in the series against the Huskies. UConn took 2-of-3 from USF last season in Storrs. The Bulls won the final game of 2017's three-game series, ending what was a six-game UConn winning streak in the matchup. Strzelecki threw a complete game shutout to give USF a 2-0 win in the finale.
SCOUTING REPORT
The always dangerous Huskies enter the opening weekend of league play at 10-7, having won four of their last five games. Pitching has been the backbone of UConn's success over the years and the staff is led by junior lefty and pre-season All-American Tim Cate, who will pitch Friday. Cate is just 1-4 on the year with a 4.85 ERA and 36 strikeouts, but has been great against the Bulls in his career. In three starts vs. USF, Cate has logged 21.0 innings with 31 strikeouts and a 1.29 ERA.
Sophomore Mason Feole (3-0, 3.45 ERA) will go Saturday and Chase Gardner (1-0, 4.84 ERA) will pitch Sunday. The Huskies' offense is led by senior outfielder Troy Stefanski, hitting .349 with 12 runs scored. Junior catcher Zac Susi is hitting .333 and redshirt senior Isaac Feldstein has provided the pop with six homers, 17 RBI and 15 runs.
NOTA-BULLS
- David Villar (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) hit his league-leading 11th double on Wednesday and continues to lead USF with a .392 average. His 11 doubles are fifth in the country.
- USF hit six more doubles Wednesday and leads the nation with 66 on the year, The Bulls lead The American in hitting (.301) and scoring (7.2) heading into the weekend. The Bulls also lead the conference with a 0.474 slugging percentage.
- After missing nearly two weeks, senior Duke Stunkel Jr. (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) and junior Joe Genord (Lake Worth, Fla.) have found their swing, and currently lead the Bulls with 12 and nine game hitting streaks, respectively. Stunkel Jr. hit a career-high two doubles against UNF and Genord hit four homers in as many games last week, as he was named the NCBWA National Player of the Week on Tuesday.
- USF's 227 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 –
