No. 24 Bulls Welcome Memphis for Year’s Final Home Series
Matchup: USF (27-14, 9-6 The American) vs. Memphis (14-28, 1-11 The American)
Dates: Tuesday, April 24
Times: 7 p.m.
| 3 p.m. | 11 a.m.
Location: Tampa, Fla. | USF Baseball Stadium (3,211)
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TAMPA, April 26, 2018 – The No. 24 University of South Florida baseball team hosts its final home series of the regular season, beginning Friday at 7 p.m. against the University of Memphis.
The Bulls (27-14, 9-6 The American) went 3-1 last week and took 2-of-3 from UCF over the weekend. At 26-14 and a No. 21 RPI, USF entered the top-25 in three different polls Monday. D1Baseball has USF ranked 24
th, Perfect Game at No. 23 and Baseball America as high as No. 20.
Senior
Duke Stunkel Jr. (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) and junior
Coco Montes (Miami) each went 3-for-4 with a combined three runs scored and two RBI. Sophomore lefty
Noah Yager (Davie, Fla.) was sensational out of the bullpen last week, logging 8.1 scoreless innings with just five hits allowed and 15 strikeouts. He got the win against UNF on Tuesday, going 5.1 innings with a career-best 10 strikeouts. He then pitched 3.0 innings in relief on Sunday with five strikeouts. Yager was named to the American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll on Monday.
For the final time in front of the home fans this season, lefty All-American
Shane McClanahan (Cape Coral, Fla.) will start on Friday. He's third nationally with 94 strikeouts and leads the country with 15.04 strikeouts per nine innings.
Redshirt senior
Peter Strzelecki (Lake Worth, Fla.) will make his final home start Saturday afternoon. He's fourth in the conference with 72 strikeouts and leads the team with a 2.74 ERA. Sophomore righty
Collin Sullivan (Randolph, Mass.) will again start Sunday.
SERIES HISTORY
The Bulls owna 25-21 lead in the all-time series against the Tiger. USF took 2-of-3 from Memphis on the road last season. The Bulls are 12-9 against Memphis in Tampa.
SCOUTING REPORT
The Tigers have been led offensively by Tyler Webb, who is hitting .302 and has 16 doubles this season to rank third in the conference. He also has a team-best 22 runs scored. Alec Trela has five homers and a team-high 32 RBI.
The pitching rotation will go righty Alex Hicks Friday, right hander Jonathan Bowlan Saturday and lefty Danny Denz Sunday. Hicks and Bowlan will each make their 11
th start of the year, while Denz will make his 10
th. Bowlan leads the team with a 2.90 ERA and is fifth in the conference with 70 strikeouts. Junior left hander Hunter Smith is the best bullpen arm with a 2.61 ERA in 19 appearances. He has only four walks to 43 strikeouts on the year.
NOTA-BULLS
- Villar still leads the Bulls with a .381 average and his 17 doubles, ranking ninth nationally.
- The Bulls are tops in The American with a .294 team average, a .464 slugging, 263 runs scored, 413 hits, 107 doubles and 14 triples. They sit third nationally in doubles and 14th in triples.
- After striking out 40 UCF batters over the weekend, USF's pitching staff ranks sixth nationally with 10.3 strikeouts per nine innings.
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 –
