Team at ECU, G3 (A.18.ECU.Puzzo)
5
Winner USF USF 23-13, 7-5 AAC
4
ECU ECU 26-9, 5-4 AAC
Winner
USF USF
23-13, 7-5 AAC
5
Final
4
ECU ECU
26-9, 5-4 AAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
USF USF 2 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 5 10 1
ECU ECU 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 4 10 1

W: Wisely, Alec (2-0) L: BENTON, Trey (4-5) S: Perez, Andrew (5)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Bulls Push Pirates Off the Plank with Series Clincher Sunday

GREENVILLE, N.C., APRIL 15, 2018 – The University of South Florida baseball team tallied 11 hits and the bullpen surrendered only one run across 5.2 innings to spearhead Sunday's 5-4 win over No. 7 East Carolina, clinching the weekend series.   

The Bulls (23-13, 6-5 The American) again jumped out to a first inning lead on a Chris Chatfield (Riverview, Fla.) double down the right field line, scoring Coco Montes (Miami) and David Villar (Pembroke Pines, Fla.).

The Pirates (26-8, 5-3 The American) landed their first blow in the bottom of the third on a three-run homer by Jake Washer, making it 3-2. But USF answered, retaking the lead in the top of the fourth.

After a pair of singles put runners at the corners, Garrett Zech (Naples, Fla.) reached on a fielder's choice, allowing JD Dutka (Suwanee, Ga.) to score from third. A balk moved Zech to second and the speedster was brought home in the next at-bat, as Tyler Dietrich (Naples, Fla.) singled to shallow center, putting the Bulls up 4-3.

Following a 38 minute rain delay, USF added to the lead in the seventh on a solo home run that just made it over the right field wall off the bat of Villar. ECU got to within one, adding a run in the bottom of the eighth to make it 5-4. But Andrew Perez (Orlando) stymied the Pirates in the ninth, closing the door on the game and the series.

Quotables

Head coach Billy Mohl on the big series win after Friday's loss:
"I'm really proud of our guys this weekend and how they responded after Friday's loss. They did a great job of not letting the outside noise take away from the ultimate goal of winning a series. They were determined and brought real energy all weekend. It was a total team effort."

Key Stats

11 – USF had 11 hits, the 20th time it recorded double-digit hits this year.   
14 – The four USF arms combined for 14 strikeouts.
7 – This is USF's seventh series win of the year.
5 – Perez picked up his fifth save of the year.
3 – The Bulls now have three wins over ranked teams, beating then-No. 6 UNC in the first game of the season in addition to the last two victories over No. 7 ECU.

Notables
  • Chatfield went 2-for-4 with two RBI.
  • Montes went 2-for-5 with a run and his 10th double of the season.
  • Villar finished 2-for-3 with two runs, two walks and his seventh homer.
  • Junior righty Alec Wisely (Jacksonville) came into the game in the fourth and pitched 2.2 innings, allowing only two hits with six strikeouts and no walks.  
Up Next
The Bulls return the Tampa for a Tuesday night matchup against UNF before the War on I-4 starts at home Friday at 7 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.
 
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