Rafael Betancourt Sunday Golds 2023
25
Winner VCU VCU 12-12
15
South Florida USF 9-16
Winner
VCU VCU
12-12
25
Final
15
South Florida USF
9-16
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
VCU VCU 3 0 5 1 5 2 1 3 5 25 24 0
South Florida USF 0 1 4 4 1 4 0 0 1 15 19 2

W: Ellis, Campbell (2-2) L: Jackson, Justin (0-1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Bulls drop finale to VCU in slugfest

Rafael Betancourt went 3-for-4 with his first career home run in Sunday’s 25-15 loss.

TAMPA (March 26, 2023) – The University of South Florida (9-16) and VCU (12-12) combined for 40 runs on 43 hits Sunday afternoon as the Rams out-slugged the Bulls, 25-15, in the finale of a three-game weekend series at USF Baseball Stadium.

VCU won the series by claiming Friday's opener, 18-3, before South Florida won a 9-0 shutout on Saturday, and the Rams' offense bounced back for Sunday's triumph.

The Rams scored in eight of nine innings on Sunday while the Bulls plated runs in six different frames. VCU posted five runs in three separate innings while USF put four runs on the board three times.

USF erased an 8-1 deficit in the ballgame and tied the score at 9-9 in the fourth inning before VCU ultimately ran away with the win.

All 18 starters combined recorded at least one hit in the game while eight of USF's nine starters recorded at least one RBI.

Freshman Rafael Betancourt (Deltona) went 3-for-4 on Sunday with his first collegiate home run and fellow rookie Eric Snow (Forsyth, Ga.) homered and logged a career-high four hits.

VCU took an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning before Betancourt's longball made it a 3-1 affair.

The Rams stretched their lead to 8-1 in the top of the third. In the bottom of the frame, Drew Brutcher (Lakeland) and Betancourt each drove in a run while Daniel Cantu (Jacksonville) added a two-run double to cut the VCU lead to 8-5.

The Rams added a run in the top of the fourth, and in the bottom half, Ben Rozenblum (Coral Springs) drove in a run before Snow's three-run blast knotted the score at 9-9.

VUC padded its lead to 16-10 in the top of the sixth inning, only to see the Bulls answer with four runs in the bottom of the frame to make it a 16-14 ballgame. USF would never get closer after that two-run deficit as the Rams continued to plate runs over the final three innings.

John Montes (Toa Alto, Puerto Rico) added a solo home run for USF in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Notable

  • Cantu batted .438 (7-for-16) with a homer, three doubles and seven RBI in the weekend series.
  • Montes has launched five homers and recorded 13 RBI over his last 10 games.
  • Brutcher has reached base safely in 21 consecutive games.
  • Snow extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
  • Snow is the third USF player with a four-hit game this season (Cantu and Nelson Rivera). 

  

Up Next

The Bulls open a four-game road stretch on Tuesday, March 28 at Bethune-Cookman in Daytona Beach. Following that tilt, USF begins conference play with a three-game series at UCF on March 31-April 2.     

About USF Baseball

The USF Baseball program played its first season in 1966 and is entering its 58th season in 2023 under head coach Billy Mohl (sixth season). The Bulls have made 14 NCAA Tournament appearances, including four since 2015, and earned their first-ever Super Regional berth in 2021. USF was ranked in the Top 25 by five different publications in the final 2021 polls, checking in as high as No. 16. The Bulls have won five conference tournament titles (3 Sun Belt, 1 Metro and 1 American) and six regular season championships (3 Sun Belt, 2 Metro and 1 C-USA). USF baseball players have been recognized with All-America honors 12 times, most recently with third baseman David Villar in 2018, and 18 have earned Freshman All-America accolades, most recently Drew Brutcher and Carmine Lane in 2021. Four Bulls were selected in the 2022 MLB Draft. Former 2018 first-round selection, Shane McClanahan, became the program's first-ever MLB All-Star in 2022 and was the starting pitcher for the American League.

– #GoBulls –

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