Team at Cincinnati
8
Winner USF USF 31-18-1, 13-9-1 AAC
6
Cincinnati CIN 28-25, 12-11 AAC
Winner
USF USF
31-18-1, 13-9-1 AAC
8
Final
6
Cincinnati CIN
28-25, 12-11 AAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
USF USF 1 0 3 2 0 2 0 0 0 8 13 2
Cincinnati CIN 0 1 0 3 1 0 0 0 1 6 8 0

W: Strzelecki, Peter (8-3) L: WADE, Jalen (2-3) S: Perez, Andrew (11)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Offense Stays Hot, No. 24 Bulls Win Game 1 of Friday’s Twin Bill

CINCINNATI, Ohio, May 18, 2018 – The 24th—ranked University of South Florida baseball team used a balance offense to take the first game of Friday's doubleheader at Cincinnati, 8-6, forcing a decisive Game 3.

The Bulls (31-18-1, 13-9-1 The American) scored in the first on doubles from Coco Montes (Miami) and David Villar (Pembroke Pines, Fla.), then the Bearcats (28-25, 12-11 The American) tied it on a solo shot in the second.

With two men on and two outs in the top of the third, Chris Chatfield (Riverview, Fla.) singled to shallow right center, scoring Duke Stunkel Jr. (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.). In the next at-bat, JD Dutka (Suwanee, Ga.) lined a two-RBI double down the left field line, scoring Villar and Chatfield to give USF a 4-1 edge.

After USF added to the lead with two runs in the top of the fourth, Cincy got closer thanks to a pair of homers in the bottom half, making it 6-4. The Bearcats had runners at the corners with nobody out in the bottom of the fifth, but Peter Strzelecki (Lake Worth, Fla.) was able to limit the damage to only one run.

Strzelecki escaping the jam allowed the Bulls to add to the lead in the sixth. Chatfield drove in his second run with a double off the center field fence, scoring Stunkel Jr. Then Dutka had a sac fly to score Joe Genord (Lake Worth, Fla.), making it 8-5.

Cincy threatened putting two men on in the bottom of the eighth with two outs, but Andrew Perez (Orlando) came on for a quick fly out to center. The lefty closer gave up an unearned run in the ninth, but was able to seal the deal and earn his 11th save of the season.

Key Stats

20 - Villar hit two doubles and now has 20 on the season, becoming just the 15th player in program history to do so.
13 – The Bulls tallied 13 hits, the 28th they had double-digit hits in 2018.
8 – USF had a very balanced offense, as eight of the nine starters in the lineup had a hit.
6 – The Bulls had six doubles in the game.

Notables
  • Villar and Stunkel Jr. led USF, each going 3-for-4. Stunkel Jr. had three runs and a RBI.
  • Chatfield went 2-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored.
  • Strzelecki went 7.0 innings and picked up his eighth win of the season.
Up Next

The Bulls and Bearcats meet for Game 2 of the doubleheader, another rubber match to decide the series. USF has had a rubber game in every series of conference play and twice during non-conference play.

If USF wins, it will finish with no worse than the No. 2 seed for next week's American Athletic Conference Championships in Clearwater. ECU defeated UConn earlier today and is 14-9. A UConn and USF win will give the Bulls the No. 2 seed.

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 –
 
 
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