TAMPA, APRIL 24, 2018 – The University of South Florida baseball team scored two runs in the fifth to retake the lead for good, giving it a 5-3 win against Bethune-Cookman Tuesday night.  

The first two innings were quick for both sides, but the Wildcats (17-25, 11-7 MEAC) struck first with a run in the third. The Bulls (27-14, 9-6 The American) responded with two runs on three hits in the bottom half. Junior catcher Tyler Dietrich (Naples, Fla.) led off with a double to center, followed by an RBI double by Coco Montes (Miami). Senior Duke Stunkel Jr. (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) followed with a single up the middle, scoring Montes from second.

USF maintained a one-run lead after both sides traded runs in the fourth. Bethune-Cookman again tied it with a run in the top of the fifth. But three-straight singles in the bottom half from Montes, Stunkel Jr. and David Villar (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) pushed the Bulls back in front, 4-3. JD Dutka (Suwanee, Ga.) hit s sac fly to score Stunkel Jr., making it 5-3 after five innings.

Key Stats

3 – Montes and Stunkel Jr. got the offense going all night, each finishing 3-for-4 with a combined three runs scored and two RBI.  
10 – The Bulls tallied 10 hits, the 23^rd time they've had double-digit hits this season.  
7 – Andrew Perez (Orlando) pitched a perfect ninth and struck out two to pick up his seventh save.

Notables

• Freshman Graham Hoffman (Tampa, Fla.) had one of his best pitching outings of the year, logging 2.0 scoreless innings with three strikeouts.
• Junior Kyle Phillips (Orlando) hit his fifth home run of the season, a solo shot in the fourth.
• The Bulls had three more doubles and have 107 on the season, tops in The American and to-five nationally.  

Up Next
The Bulls have their final home series of the season beginning Friday at 7 p.m. against Memphis. USF will honor four seniors in the home finale Sunday, with a scheduled first pitch of 11 a.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.