Bulls Host No. 14 Pirates in Big Weekend Series
WEEKEND MATCHUP: USF vs. No. 14 ECU
SCHEDULE: Friday, 7 p.m. | Saturday, 6:30 p.m. | Sunday, 1 p.m.
LOCATION: Tampa, Fla., USF Baseball Stadium
FOLLOW: Live Stats, Twitter updates
@USFBaseball
RADIO: BullsUnlimited
WATCH: YouTube
GAME NOTES
TAMPA, March 28, 2019 – The USF baseball team welcomes No. 14 East Carolina into Tampa for a three-game series beginning Friday night.
The Bulls (12-11, 1-2 The American) tallied double-digit hits for the seventh times this year on Wednesday at Stetson with 13. Senior first baseman
Joe Genord (Lake Worth, Fla.) matched a career high with four hits, tallying four RBI and two homers. It was the third time in his career he has hit two home runs in a game and the second time this year he recorded four hits.
Senior
Kyle Phillips (Orlando) had two hits for the fifth straight game and is batting .500 over that time frame. Redshirt sophomore
Jake Sullivan (Tampa) had two doubles in the game.
Junior righty hander
Collin Sullivan (Randolph, Mass.) picked up his second win of the year in the conference opener against Cincinnati last Friday. He tossed a season long 7.0 innings with a career best 11 strikeouts. He was named to The American Weekly Honor Roll on Monday.
He'll get the start Friday, followed by senior
Alec Wisely (Jacksonville, Fla.) on Saturday. Wisely has gone at least 6.0 innings in three consecutive outings.
The Matchup
The Pirates hold a 17-13 edge in the all-time series, but USF has dominated recently, winning 11 of the last 15 meetings. USF swept ECU at home in 2017 and took 2-of-3 from then-No. 7 ECU in Greenville last season.
Three Bulls have had tons of success against ECU in their career. Senior catcher
Tyler Dietrich (Naples, Fla.) is hitting .483 (14-for-29) with eight RBI and five runs, playing in seven career games vs. the Pirates. Genord is hitting .302 with nine RBI and eight runs in 11 games and Phillips batted .455 (5-for-11) against ECU last year.
Know the Foe
The Pirates enter the weekend as the top team in The American, having swept UCF last weekend. ECU is ranked in every major publication, as high as No. 13 according to Baseball America.
Sophomore two-way player Alec Burleson leads the Pirates and conference with a .402 average. He has 10 doubles, 17 RBI and 11 runs. Junior first baseman Spencer Brickhouse is hitting .397 with five homers, 18 RBI and 20 runs. Preseason Player of the Year selection in The American Bryant Packard is hitting .346 with nine doubles and 21 runs. They lead a lineup that features five guys hitting above .340.
The pitching staff is also deep and experienced, leading The American with a 3.52 ERA, four shutouts and a 1.14 WHIP. The staff is ninth nationally with 2.77 walks allowed per nine innings.
Junior lefty Jake Agnos (3-1, 3.44 ERA) will start Friday, followed by junior righty Tyler Smith (2-0, 4.94 ERA). Agnos leads the team with 50 strikeouts. Sunday's starter is TBA, but Burleson (2-0, 2.39 ERA, 30 Ks) and sophomore lefty Jake Kuchmaner (2-0, 2.08 ERA, 31 Ks) are options. Kuchmaner tossed a no-hitter on March 17 against Maryland and leads the country with 2.86 hits allowed per nine innings.
Nota-Bulls
- 11 different Bulls have home runs this season.
- Junior Jordan Santos (Tampa) is ninth nationally with 1.14 walks this year.
- Sullivan is second in The American with 44 strikeouts and second with 5.40 hits allowed per nine innings.
- Genord is just one home run away from moving into fourth on USF's all-time list.
- Genord had 10 total bases on Wednesday, the first Bull to do that in a game since Buddy Putnam on March 24, 2015.
Bulls Bits
- DID YOU KNOW?: USF has the only Division I coaching staff in the state of Florida in which every member was selected in the MLB Draft – head coach Billy Mohl (2006, Philadelphia); assistants Chuck Jeroloman (2004, Boston), Chris Cates (2007, Minnesota), Brian Jeroloman(2006, Toronto). The Bulls' coaching staff has a combined 25 years of playing experience in pro baseball.
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 continued the success under first-year head coach Billy Mohl in 2018, reaching 36 wins and advancing to the semifinals of the conference tournament for the first time since 2012, while being ranked in multiple polls for the final two months. USF earned its third NCAA Regional berth in the last four seasons and had six all-conference selections in 2018. The team had four players drafted in the 2018 MLB Draft, including the program's fourth first rounder, Shane McClanahan. Junior third baseman David Villar was taken in the 11th round after tallying 24 doubles and hitting better than .370, being named first team all-conference and an All-American. The USF Baseball program has won five conference titles and the Bulls have made 13 NCAA appearances.
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