TAMPA, APRIL 27, 2018 – Shane McClanahan (Cape Coral, Fla.) struck out 13 and the University of South Florida baseball team belted three homers to take the first game of the weekend's series against Memphis, 4-2.    

David Villar (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) got the Bulls (28-14, 10-6 The American) going in the first with a mammoth homer to left. After the Tigers (14-29, 1-12 The American) tied things up in the third, USF answered with a run in the fifth on a bloop double to shallow right off the bat of Coco Montes (Miami), scoring Garrett Zech (Naples, Fla.) to make it 2-1.

In the bottom of the sixth, Villar again went deep, sending a moon shot to left. Two batters later, Chris Chatfield (Riverview, Fla.) elevated a pitch over the scoreboard and on top of the Josephine Ramil Campo batting facility, making it 4-1.

Memphis loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth, but a quick double play and ground ball to Montes limited the damage to just one run. Andrew Perez (Orlando) came in in the ninth and closed the door for his eighth save of the year.

Key Stats

13 – McClanahan struck 13 and has struck out 10 or more six times this season.
9 – McClanahan has 105 strikeouts on the year, one more than his total from last season, putting him alone in ninth place for the most in a single season in program history.
11 – Villar now has 11 homers on the year, tied for the conference lead. It was the second time this year he has hit two in the same game.

Notables

• Villar and JD Dutka (Suwanee, Ga.) each went 2-for-4.
• McClanahan went a season-long 7.0 innings, tossing out 13 and only walking two with just three hits allowed.

Coach Mohl on tonight's win, Shane's start and the power bats going yard. pic.twitter.com/O3YE7lemiZ

— USF Baseball (@USFBaseball) April 28, 2018

Up Next
The Bulls and Tigers play game two of the series Saturday at 3 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.