HOUSTON, TX, APRIL 6, 2018 – The University of South Florida baseball team used the long ball early and led 8-0 in the fourth inning, and held on for 9-6 win over Houston to open a three-game series.

The Bulls (21-9, 5-2 The American) rode the bat of junior third baseman David Villar (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) in the first, as he crushed a two-out homer to make it 1-0. After a scoreless second, Coco Montes (Miami) led off the third with a double. Three batters later, Joe Genord (Lake Worth, Fla.) blasted a home run to left, making it 3-0.

USF wasn't done, as JD Dutka (Suwanee, Ga.) and Kyle Phillips (Orlando) led off the fourth with hits to put them both into scoring position. Garrett Zech (Naples, Fla.) hit a scorching liner off the glove of the Cougars' (17-12, 4-3 The American) third baseman, scoring Dutka. After Montes reached on a fielder's choice with the bases loaded, allowing Phillips to score, Villar came back up with two men on. He got all of 1-0 fastball, sending a moon shot to left, making it 8-0.  

Houston finally got on the board in the bottom of the fourth, then led off the sixth with a solo homer, making it 8-2 heading into the seventh. USF added one in the top half, but the Cougars cut into the deficit with four runs in the bottom of the seventh on just two hits to make it 9-6.

The Bulls turned to Andrew Perez (Orlando) in the bottom of the eighth, and the junior lefty struck out the side, then two more in the ninth to fend off Houston's comeback.

Key Stats

10 – The Bulls tallied double-digit hits for the 18^th time.
4 – Four Bulls had multiple hits.
2 – Villar became the second Bull to hit two homers in a game this season, joining Genord, who did it against Tulane on March 30.

Notables

• Villar finished 2-for-4 with two runs and four RBI.
• Genord went 3-for-5 with a run and two RBI.
• Dutka went 3-for-4 with a run, a RBI and two doubles.
• Montes went 2-for-5 with two runs and a RBI.
• Lefty ace Shane McClanahan (Cape Coral, Fla.) got his fourth win of the season. He went 6.2 innings and struck out eight.

Up Next
The Bulls and Cougars play the second game of this three-game series Saturday at 7:30 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.