Hunter Mink 2024 RIce
13
Winner Rice RICE 13-25, 4-9 AAC
4
South Florida USF 21-17, 7-6 AAC
Winner
Rice RICE
13-25, 4-9 AAC
13
Final
4
South Florida USF
21-17, 7-6 AAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Rice RICE 0 0 0 1 1 1 3 2 5 13 15 1
South Florida USF 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 4 11 3

W: Parker Smith (4-3) L: Scrape, Kyle (0-1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Bulls fall in series opener to Rice

Hunter Mink struck out a career-best 10 batters on Friday night.

TAMPA (April 19, 2024) – The opener of a three-game series on Friday night between the University of South Florida (21-17, 7-6 AAC) and Rice University (13-25, 4-9) began as a pitcher's duel before the Rice Owls ran away with the game late for a 13-4 victory at USF Baseball Stadium.

With the game tied at 3-3 heading to the seventh inning, the Rice offense exploded for 10 runs over the final three frames.

South Florida got on the board first in the bottom of the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Bobby Boser (Wesley Chapel). Boser was back in the starting lineup for the first time since injuring his hand on March 10.  

The Bulls led 2-0 after three complete innings before the Owls' offense came to life with at least one run in every frame from the fourth through the ninth.

Hunter Mink (Palm Harbor) struck out a career-high 10 batters and allowed three runs (two earned) with only one walk over 6.0 IP in the no-decision.

Notable

  • Mink turned in his ninth career quality start on the mound and is the first Bull to strike out at least 10 batters in a game since Ethan Brown (3/24/23 vs. VCU).
  • Boser missed 22 games due to injury. 
  • Matt Rose (Clearwater) went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Rose is batting .429 in conference play and hitting .500 (16-for-32) through his last 10 games overall.
  • Marcus Brodil (Dunedin) tallied a pair of hits and has reached base safely in 17 straight games.
  • Rafael Betancourt (Deltona) went 2-for-3 with a pair of walks. 
  • USF finished the night with 11 hits and has recorded 10 or more hits in four straight games.

Up Next

The Bulls will look to even the weekend series with the Owls on Saturday, April 20. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. in Tampa.

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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