TAMPA, MARCH 24, 2018 – The University of South Florida baseball team scored the final six runs, including five in the sixth inning to knock off UConn 8-4 Friday, evening the opening series of conference play.  

The Huskies (11-8, 1-1 The American) and Bulls (17-7, 1-1 The American) each plated two in the second inning. UConn added runs in the third and fifth to lead 4-2 heading into the sixth.

Junior Garrett Zech (Naples, Fla.) got the inning started with leadoff triple to center, then Tyler Dietrich (Naples, Fla.) walked, which forced the Huskies to go to the bullpen. Zech scored on the next at-bat, but it was a double play, emptying the bags with two gone. David Villar (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) and Duke Stunkel Jr. (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) each singled, then Joe Genord (Lake Worth, Fla.) doubled to right, giving the Bulls their first lead of the weekend, 5-4.

The two-out rally continued, as Chris Chatfield (Riverview, Fla.) tripled to right center, scoring Genord. Then JD Dutka (Suwanee, Ga.) singled through the left, making it 7-4. USF added another in the seventh, giving the bullpen plenty of insurance.

Key Stats

3 – The Bulls had three triples in the game. Chatfield hit his fourth and Zech hit his sixth.  
7 – USF had a balanced attack on offense, as seven different players scored.
10 – The Bulls had 10 hits in the game, the 15^th time they've done that this year.

Notables

• Junior Coco Montes (Miami) went 2-for-4 with a run, RBI and his first career triple.
• Stunkel Jr. also went 2-for-4 with a run and a RBI.
• Redshirt senior righty Peter Strzelecki (Lake Worth, Fla.) got the win to improve to 3-1 on the year. He went 6.0 innings and struck out five.
• Richie Cruz (Miami) and Kevin King (Orlando) combined to throw the final 3.0 innings, allowing just three hits with two strikeouts each.

Head coach Billy Mohl on tonight's 8-4 win. ?? pic.twitter.com/wjV4H05TXf

— USF Baseball (@USFBaseball) March 25, 2018

Up Next
The Bulls and Huskies play the rubber match to this opening conference series Sunday 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.