USF Athletics

No. 24 Bulls Begin Conference Tourney against Shockers

May 22, 2018

Matchups: 2^nd seed - USF (32-18-1, 14-9-1 The American) vs. 7^th seed – Wichita St. (34-19-1 9-14-1 The American) | TBD
Date: Wednesday, May 23
Times: 9 a.m. | 4 p.m.  
Location: Clearwater, Fla. | Spectrum Field (8,500) 
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TAMPA, May 22, 2018 – The No. 2 seed University of South Florida baseball team opens its American Athletic Championship run against No. 7 seed Wichita St. Wednesday at 9 a.m. in Clearwater.   

SCHEDULE ALTERATIONS
The schedule for the American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship has been adjusted due to projected inclement weather in the Tampa Bay area.

All of the games originally slated for Thursday, May 24, were moved to Wednesday, May 23. USF and Wichita St. were initially scheduled for an 11 a.m. start, but will kick off at 9 a.m. from Spectrum Field. The Bulls will play later in the day at 4 p.m., on either Spectrum Field or Robin Roberts Field depending on outcome, which is located in the complex adjacent to the main stadium. USF will face either the three seed UConn or the six seed Cincinnati at 4 p.m.

The Bulls (32-18-1, 14-9-1 The American) remained in at least one national poll for a fifth-straight week, as they sit at No. 24 according to Perfect Game. USF's RPI is No. 22 following a series win at Cincinnati over the weekend. USF dropped the opening game on Thursday, then swept a Friday doubleheader to secure its sixth series win in conference play.

On Monday, the Bulls were honored by the league with six all-conference selections, their most since joining The American. Junior third baseman David Villar (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) was named to the first team. Senior outfielder Duke Stunkel Jr. (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.), senior pitcher Peter Strzelecki (Lake Worth Fla.), junior shortstop Coco Montes (Miami), junior first baseman Joe Genord (Lake Worth, Fla.) and junior closer Andrew Perez (Orlando) were all named to the second team.

Stunkel Jr. was named to the American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll on Monday for a second-straight week after hitting .500 at Cincy with a homer, two doubles, and three RBI. Villar also hit .500 and finished the regular season second in the league with a .380 average. His 21 doubles led the conference and are tied for the eighth-most in a single season in program history.  

Redshirt sophomore All-American Shane McClanahan (Cape Coral, Fla.) will take the mound against the Shockers. He leads the conference with 111 strikeouts and sits tops in the country with 15.06 strikeouts per nine innings. McClanahan will be well rested, as his last start was on May 11 at Wichita St.

SERIES HISTORY

The Bulls made their first trip to Wichita St. May 11-13, and the two sides split the three games. The Shockers are 4-1-1 against USF, having met in 2005 in Honolulu, Hawaii prior to this year. The first two contests were neutral site games in New Orleans.

SCOUTING REPORT

The Shockers took 2-of-3 from Memphis over the weekend to jump ahead of Tulane for the No. 7 seed in the tournament. Wichita St. has second-best offense in the league behind the Bulls, led by a trio of all-conference selections. Luke Ritter and catcher Gunnar Troutwine were named to the first team, and preseason All-American third baseman Alec Bohm was named to the second team.

Ritter led the Shockers with a .341 average, followed by Bohm who hit .332 with 15 home runs, 56 runs and 52 RBI. Troutwine hit .318 during the regular season with 48 RBI and a team high 14 doubles.

Wichita St. will start Adam Keller on Wednesday. It will be his first start of the season. In 13 appearances out of the bullpen, Keller has a 0.98 ERA with 22 strikeouts and just one walk over 18.1 innings.        

NOTA-BULLS

• Villar also has 12 home runs in addition to the 21 doubles, and the 33 extra-base hits are tied for third most in a single season in program history.
• USF wrapped up the regular season tops in the country with 132 doubles and 2.59 doubles per game.
• The Bulls are tops in The American with a .297 team average and a .468 slugging percentage. They are second in scoring at 6.4 runs per game. USF is second in The American with 527 hits.
• USF's pitching leads the conference and is fifth in the country with 10.2 strikeouts per nine innings.  
• Perez's 11 saves are tied for the 10^th most in a single season in program history.
• Genord hit his 12^th home run of the year while at Cincy, tying him for the team lead. A consistent threat to go deep, he leads the conference with 0.30 homers per game.

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 Bulls have continued the success under first-year head coach Billy Mohl in 2018, reaching the 30-win mark, while being ranked in multiple polls since mid-April. The USF Baseball program has won five conference titles and the Bulls have made 12 NCAA appearances.