WICHITA ST., KS., May 12, 2018 – The University of South Florida baseball team tallied 12 hits and eight runs through the first three innings, and rolled to a 9-6 win in Game 2 at Wichita St. to force a rubber match on Sunday.

The Bulls (30-17, 12-8 The American) flipped the script on the Shockers (32-17, 7-13 The American) with a two-run first, as Coco Montes (Miami), Duke Stunkel Jr. (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) and David Villar (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) led off the game with consecutive singles.

After Wichita St. got one back in the bottom half, USF erupted for five runs on six hits, capped by a three-run homer by Joe Genord (Lake Worth, Fla.) that completely left the ballpark and ended up across the street of Eck Stadium.

But the hosts got close in the bottom half once again, scoring three runs to make it 7-4. Peter Strzelecki (Lake Worth, Fla.) escaped the second allowing just three runs, as the bases were left juiced thanks to a strikeout of preseason All-American Greyson Jenista.

Strzelecki retired 10 of 11 from that point on. Though he allowed a run in the sixth, the Bulls scored in the top half as well. USF's bullpen was lights out, surrendering one hit and one run over the final 3.2 innings.

Key Stats

10 – The Bulls tallied 17 hits, the 26^th they had double-digit hits in 2018 and the third time this week.
12 – USF scored double-digit runs for the 12^th time this year.
27 – The Bulls are 27-0 when leading after seven innings in 2018.
130 – USF has outscored opponents 130-78 over the innings 1-2-3 this season.
6 – USF has won six rubber games this season. Sunday will be the ninth of the year.
9 – All nine USF hitters recorded a hit.
4 – Stunkel Jr. went 4-for-5, a career-high for hits. He has nine hits through the first three games this week.
5 – Five Bulls had multiple hits.

Notables

• Villar went 3-for-5 with two runs, two RBI and his league-leading 18^th double.
• The Bulls had four doubles and now have 115 this season.
• Genord finished 2-for-4 with a run and his 10^th home run of the year.
• Andrew Perez (Orlando) now has 10 saves this year and needs just one more to tie for 10^th all-time in program history for a single season.

Up Next
The Bulls and Wichita St. will meet in the rubber match at 11:30 a.m. Sunday.  

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.