USF Athletics

Bulls Make First Trip to Wichita for Three-Game Series

May 10, 2018

Matchup: USF (29-16, 11-7 The American) at Wichita St. (31-16, 6-12 The American)
Dates: Friday, May 11 – Sunday, May 13
Times: 7 p.m. | 3 p.m. | 11:30 a.m.
Location: Wichita, Ks. | Eck Stadium (7,851)
Follow: Stats | Listen | Watch (ESPN3)

Game Notes

TAMPA, May 10, 2018 – The University of South Florida baseball team makes its first ever trip to Wichita, Ks., for a three-game series beginning Friday at 7 p.m. EST. All three games this weekend can be seen on ESPN3.

The Bulls (29-16, 11-7 The American) nearly took down top-ranked Florida on the road Tuesday, but fell in an offensive battle, 11-8. USF led 6-0 after the second and 8-4 at one point and tallied 13 hits against the SEC's top pitching staff. Coco Montes (Miami) and Duke Stunkel Jr. (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) each had three hits and Chris Chatfield (Riverview, Fla.) had a career-high four RBI.

For a third-straight week, the Bulls find themselves in the top-25 of four major polls, which includes a No. 22 ranking according to Perfect Game, a No. 23 ranking according to Baseball America and the 24^th spot in D1Baseball's top-25.

Lefty All-American Shane McClanahan (Cape Coral, Fla.) will get the start on Friday. He on went a season and career-long 7.0 innings in Game 1 against Memphis on April 28, striking out 13 and allowing only three hits. McClanahan leads the country with 15.21 strikeouts per nine innings, is seventh nationally with 107 strikeouts and sixth with 4.97 hits allowed per nine innings.

Redshirt senior righty Peter Strzelecki (Lake Worth, Fla.) will again start Saturday. He's fifth in The American with 78 strikeouts. Sophomore Collin Sullivan (Randolph, Mass.) will start Sunday with his 2-0 record.

SERIES HISTORY

The Bulls are making their first trip to Wichita St., and the teams have played just three times previously. The Shockers are 3-0 against USF, most recently meeting in 2005 when both sides faced in Honolulu, Hawaii. The first two contests were neutral site games in New Orleans.

SCOUTING REPORT

The Shockers have struggled somewhat in their first season within The American (6-12), but the offense has powered them to 31 wins. Wichita St. is second in the league with a .289 average and leads the conference with 455 hits, 46 home runs and 6.5 runs per game.

A pair of preseason All-Americans in third baseman Alec Boehm and outfielder Greyson Jenista highlight the deep lineup. Boehm is hitting a team-high .335 with 10 homers, 45
RBI and 46 runs scored. Jenista is 12^th nationally with 43 walks, and has 43 runs scored. Luke Ritter is second on the team with a .322 average and is tied for the team lead with 46 runs.

Righty Codi Heuer will start Friday night. He is 5-5 in 13 appearances (12 starts) with a 4.48 ERA and a team0best 65 strikeouts. Righty Tyler Davis will start Saturday, making his fifth start and 18^th appearance. He has a 2.47 ERA with 36 strikeouts.    

NOTA-BULLS

• Junior David Villar (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) continues to lead the Bulls with a .370 average to sit second in The American. He is second in the league with 17 doubles and third with his 11 home runs.
• The Bulls are tops in The American with a .292 team average and a .456 slugging percentage. They are second in scoring at 6.2 runs per game. USF is also second with 448 hits and it is fifth nationally with 111 doubles.   
• USF's pitching leads the conference and is fourth in the country with 10.2 strikeouts per nine innings.  
• Montes and Stunkel Jr. have been stout at the top of the USF lineup, as they sit second and third on the team with a .325 and .321 average, respectively.
   

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.