South Florida Bulls during a baseball game against the University of North Carolina at Greensboro Spartans on March 17, 2024. (Mary Holt/South Florida Baseball)
Mary Holt/South Florida Baseball
6
Winner UNC Greensboro UNCG 11-8
4
South Florida USF 11-8
Winner
UNC Greensboro UNCG
11-8
6
Final
4
South Florida USF
11-8
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
UNC Greensboro UNCG 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 1 2 6 8 1
South Florida USF 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 9 1

W: Danny Thompson Jr. (3-1) L: Madonna, Dominick (0-1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Spartans rally to claim rubber match from Bulls

Two-sport star Bryce Archie made his first collegiate start on the mound for USF on Sunday.

TAMPA (March 17, 2024) – The University of South Florida (11-8) dropped the rubber match of a three-game weekend series to UNC Greensboro (11-8) on Sunday afternoon, 6-4, as the Spartans came from behind with three runs over the final two innings to defeat the Bulls and claim the series.

South Florida jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the third inning only to see UNCG knot the score in the top of the fourth. The Bulls answered with the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fourth inning where the score remained 4-3 until the Spartans tied things up once again in the top of the eighth and plated two runs in the top of the ninth for the win.

Two-out singles by Joaquin Monque (Weston) and Drew Brutcher (Lakeland) brought the winning run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning, but USF's late rally was snuffed out.

Bryce Archie (Powder Springs, Ga.), the backup quarterback for the USF Football Team, made his first collegiate baseball start on the mound Sunday afternoon and took a no decision. Archie allowed two runs on three hits with three strikeouts over 3.0 IP. It was Archie's fifth total appearance of the season on the mound.

Brutcher, John Montes (Toa Alto, Puerto Rico) and Stewart Puckett (Deltona) recorded two hits apiece for the Bulls. Montes returned to the lineup on Sunday after missing Saturday's game with a shoulder injury. He leads the USF offense this season with a .406 batting average. Puckett has been filling in for Bobby Boser (Wesley Chapel), who is out an indefinite period of time with a hand injury.

Notable

  • Brutcher has reached base safely in all 19 games this season and raised his batting average to .387 on Sunday while continuing to lead the NCAA in walks (27).
  • UNCG earned its third weekend series win of the season and holds midweek victories over No. 1 Wake Forest and No. 13 NC State on the year.

Up Next

The Bulls will travel to FGCU for a game on Tuesday, March 19 at 6:30 p.m. USF will then return to Tampa for a game against Florida A&M on Wednesday, March 20 at 6 p.m. before opening a three-game weekend series with Memphis on Friday, March 22 at 6:30 p.m. to begin conference play.      

Double Play Passes, which include one ticket to every home baseball and softball game, can be purchased now for $99. Group and single game tickets are also on sale and can be purchased here or by calling 1-800-Go-Bulls.

About USF Baseball

The USF Baseball program played its first season in 1966 and is entering its 59th season in 2024 under head coach Billy Mohl (seventh 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 19 have earned Freshman All-America accolades, most recently Eric Snow in 2023. 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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