Bulls Soak Up Opportunity Against Rays In Port Charlotte
For a
FULL GALLERY.
TAMPA, MARCH 6, 2019 – From arriving at Charlotte Sports Park to departing, the USF baseball team received a unique experience against the Tampa Bay Rays Tuesday night.
Getting a true feel for life at the next level, the Bulls made their way to Port Charlotte for an exhibition with the Bay Area professionals. Though the score read
7-2 in favor of the Rays at night's end, the game couldn't have started any better for USF.
The Bulls faced the 2018 Cy Young award winner, lefty Blake Snell to start the game. Senior
Kyle Phillips (Orlando) took a pitch off the back with one out, then stole second. In the next at-bat, classmate
Joe Genord (Lake Worth, Fla.) doubled down the left field line, scoring Phillips to give USF a 1-0 lead.
"He's one of the best in the game, so doubling off of him was something I'll remember forever," said Genord. "I just tried to approach it like a normal at-bat. Sure he's the Cy Young winner, but we're out here playing the same game and I wasn't thinking about the name on the back of the jersey."
Fellow senior
Tyler Dietrich (Naples, Fla.) legged out an infield single two batters later, scoring Genord from third to give the Bulls a 2-0 edge, much to the pleasant surprise of the USF fans in attendance. Snell only recorded two outs before being pulled 29 pitches into the game.
"It was an awesome moment for our guys," said head coach
Billy Mohl. "It's still spring training and Blake was just getting his work in, so he'll be fine, but to see us start the game like that was exciting."
The Rays threw two more big-league arms at USF from there in the forms of Chaz Roe and Jose Alvarado. USF managed just three hits against what ended up being nine arms that followed Snell.
Two of those pitchers hold a special connection to USF, as alums Brandon Lawson and
Phoenix Sanders each logged an inning. Lawson tossed a perfect seventh frame with one strikeout and Sanders was electric, striking out the side in the ninth.
"It was great seeing those guys out here and seeing the success they're having at the next level," said Mohl.
Also in attendance was the 2018 first-round pick of the Rays, lefty
Shane McClanahan. Tampa Bay has made it a habit of selected former USF arms, having done so in three-straight years. Lawson was a 12
th round pick of the Rays in the 2016 MLB Draft and Sanders went in the 10
th round of the 2017 draft.
A total of 20 Bulls saw action last night. Genord went 1-for-3 with the RBI double, Dietrich finished 1-for-2 with a RBI, fellow senior
Garrett Zech (Naples, Fla.) had a single and junior
Jordan Santos (Tampa) was a 1-for-1 with a double and a walk.
Two arms made their unofficial debuts for the 2019 season last night. Junior lefty
Noah Yager (Davie, Fla.) had been dealing with an injury, but returned to pitch the fifth inning. Freshman
Justin Stewart (Bartow, Fla.) saw action for the first time last night, pitching a scoreless sixth. Juniors
Matt Marini (Miami) and
Connor Eason (Chesapeake, Va.) each pitched scoreless innings. Redshirt junior
Dylan Burns (Vero Beach, Fla.) had the most impressive outing of all the arms, tossing 3.0 scoreless frame. He allowed just one hit and struck out five, as the six USF arms allowed just .
Up Next
USF returns home for a series against a 9-3 Liberty program on March 8.
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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