GAMEDAY INFORMATION
University of South Florida Bulls (16-13, 3-3 AAC) vs. Wichita State Shockers (19-10, 5-1 AAC)
SCHEDULE: Friday, April 5 – 6:30 p.m. | Saturday, April 6 – 2 p.m. | Sunday, April 7 – 1 p.m.
BALLPARK: Red McEwen Field at USF Baseball Stadium | Tampa, Fla.
ALL-TIME SERIES: WSU leads, 12-9-1
TV: ESPN+
LISTEN: Bulls Unlimited
LIVE STATS: Here
TWITTER UPDATES: @USFBaseball
GAME NOTES: South Florida | Wichita State
TICKETS: Purchase
TAMPA (April 4, 2024) – The University of South Florida Bull return home for the first time in two weeks to begin a brief four-game homestand. South Florida hosts Wichita State in American Athletic Conference play on April 5-7 and will take on Bethune-Cookman to cap the homestand on April 9.
The Bulls are coming off a five-game road swing and a stretch of playing 12 games in 16 days from March 15-30.
Friday's opener against the Shockers will be "Rumble at The Red" night in honor of WrestleMania weekend. The first 500 fans on Friday will receive a "Rumble at The Red" t-shirt. The weekend will also feature various wrestling-themed elements throughout the ballpark.
Sunday will be another "Kid's Day at the Ballpark" with dogs welcome, too, and the first of four USF Baseball trading card sets will be given away at the gate.
The Bulls have continued to battle the injury bug over the past month. Bobby Boser (hand) and Rafael Betancourt (knee) are working towards their returns and Eric Snow has missed the past four games. Matthew Buffington continues to play through a thumb injury while Joey Volini and Kyle Scrape have been absent from the mound the past few weeks.
Drew Brutcher, Jackson Mayo, John Montes and Ben Rozenblum have carried the offensive load while Stewart Puckett and Marcus Brodil have made the most of their opportunities in the starting lineup as of late. Montes has hit five home runs over his last eight games while Puckett, who hit his first collegiate home run last weekend, now has four homers over his last four games.
The Bulls have collectively hit 13 home runs over the last five games. USF continues to rack up the stolen bases as well, entering the weekend with 58 through 29 games after totaling just 39 stolen bases in 2024.
Brutcher enters the weekend ranked second in the NCAA in walks (33). He ranks sixth all-time in USF history for career home runs (37) and 10th for career walks (128 in 164 games).
Hunter Mink is coming off a complete game win at Charlotte last Thursday which earned him AAC Honor Roll accolades. Mink twirled the first USF complete game since Collin Sullivan on April 25, 2021 (7 innings). Sullivan also owned the last 9-inning complete game on May 17, 2019 vs. Wichita State.
PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUP
Friday – RHP Hunter Mink (2-3, 4.82 ERA) vs. LHP Caden Favors (5-1, 2.79 ERA)
Saturday – RHP Jack Cebert (3-2, 4.58 ERA) vs. LHP Tyler Dobbs (4-2, 2.18 ERA)
Sunday – TBD vs. RHP Tommy LaPour (3-1, 4.55 ERA)
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 –
