Bulls Return to League Action, Host Cougars For Three
WEEKEND MATCHUP: USF vs. Houston
SCHEDULE: Friday, 7 p.m. | Saturday, 6:30 p.m. | Sunday, 1 p.m.
LOCATION: Tampa, Fla., USF Baseball Stadium
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RADIO LINK: 1040 AM &
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WATCH: American Digital Network (Friday) | BullsVision (Sunday)
GAME NOTES
TAMPA, April 25, 2019 – The USF baseball team takes on the Houston Cougars in a weekend series beginning Friday night.
The Bulls (19-20, 2-10 The American) followed a sweep of The Citadel with a win at FGCU Wednesday for their fourth-straight win. Eight different Bulls recorded hits, as the arms held the ASUN's top hitting team to just four hits. Redshirt junior
Dylan Burns (Vero Beach, Fla.) tossed four hitless innings out of the bullpen.
Righty
Baron Stuart (Okeechobee, Fla.) will get the start Friday. He threw a career long 8.0 innings against The Citadel on April 18. Junior righty hander
Collin Sullivan (Randolph, Mass.) will start on Saturday.
Nota-Bulls
- Senior first baseman Joe Genord (Lake Worth, Fla.) is third on USF's all-time list with 43 career home runs, need four to be tied for second. He's hitting a team best .348 with 45 RBI.
- Classmate Kyle Phillips (Orlando) has an 11 game hitting streak, batting .378 over the time.
- USF has been bashing during midweek games this year, hitting .316 as a team in nine contests.
- Genord is clubbing .559 in those games and Phillips is hitting .475.
- Redshirt sophomore Jake Sullivan (Tampa) is batting .375 over the last 10 games and .319 on the year. Junior Jordan Santos (Tampa) is batting .342 over the last 10 and senior Chris Chatfield (Riverview, Fla.) is hitting .344 during the stretch.
- Freshman Alex Bello (Miami) is hitting .311 on the year, starting every game on the left side of the infield since March 31.
The Matchup
The Bulls and Cougars are meeting for the 44th time Friday night. Houston holds a 27-16 edge in the all-time series. USF took 2-of-3 from a ranked Houston squad in Tampa in 2017. The series is tied in Tampa, 9-9.
Genord is hitting .314 in nine career games against Houston with two homer, six RBI and four runs. Phillips hit .333 in his first series with the Cougars last year, scoring a pair of runs. Senior
Garrett Zech (Naples, Fla.) is hitting .323 in nine career games against Houston, having scored seven runs with a double, triple and a home run.
Know the Foe
The Cougars (25-16, 8-7 The American) find themselves tied for third in the league standings. The offense has been led by Jared Triolo with a .329 average and 33 runs. Senior Joe Davis is second in the league with 16 homers and 46 RBI, hitting .320.
The pitching staff is second in the conference with a 3.78 team ERA and 7.75 hits allowed per nine innings. Lefty Lael Lockhart Jr. (3-5, 3.25 ERA) and lefty Clay Aguilar (4-3, 3.19 ERA) are in line to start this weekend. Ryan Randel has been the third weekend starter for much of the year. Righty Fred Villarreal leads the league with a 1.65 ERA. He's been the stopper out of the pen with a 4-1 record and nine saves in 24 appearances.
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.
- CUT FOR THE CURE: USF will hold its annual Cut for the Cure game on Sunday, in conjunction with the Vs. Cancer Society. With the help of Great Clips, the team and staff will be shaving their heads after the game. The Bulls have raised more than $5,000 for cancer research so far this season and more than $60,000 since head coach Billy Mohl brought the efforts to Tampa in 2015. Fans that wish to join in on the fight can do so HERE.
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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