TAMPA, FEB. 13, 2025 – University of South Florida baseball starts the 2026 season off right by defeating the Illinois Fighting Illini 9-4. The Bulls advance to 1-0 on the season, and Illinois falls to 0-1.
The scoring began at the top of the third, when junior shortstop Michael Farina hit a solo home run to right field. Later in the inning, with two outs, catcher Will Johannes singled to center field, scoring Jack Zebig. On the next at bat, AJ Putty reached on a fielding error by
Bradke Lohry, allowing Kyle Schupmann to score. Illinois would go into the bottom of the third up 3-0.
With two outs in the bottom of the third and runners on second and third,
Jake Kulikowski drilled a base hit into right-center, allowing both runners to score. The third inning would end with the Fighting Illini leading, 3-2.
Jevin Relaford walked to start the bottom of the fifth.
Ryan Pruitt then came up to bat and hit a triple down the right field line, scoring Relaford.
Joey Brenczewski was next up to bat and nailed a base hit into left-center, scoring Pruitt. The Bulls ended the fifth inning up, 5-3.
Illinois fought back in the top of the sixth when a two-out double by Farina was followed by another two-out double by Zebig, scoring Farina. Cole Warehime flew out to right field to end the half of the inning, the Bulls still leading, 5-4.
The last scoring of the game occurred during the seventh inning, and began with a Lohry walk, allowing Nate Earley to score. Next at bat,
Jacob Green reached on a fielder's choice, allowing
Lance Trippel to score. Relaford then tripled down the field line, scoring both Green and
Jack Lutz. The Bulls would maintain the 9-4 lead for the remainder of the game.
Nolan Bernard was awarded the win, with three innings pitched, two hits allowed, and one run allowed.
Dominic Pontbriant was awarded the save with three innings pitched, and no hits or runs allowed, only giving up one walk.
Edwin Alicea started the first three innings of the game, recording 6 strikeouts.
Key Stats:
• USF opens the season 1-0.
•
Jake Kulikowski and
Jacob Green both had two-hit nights.
• This is the Bulls' first win at home against Illinois.
Up Next:
USF faces Illinois for game two of the three-game series on Saturday, February 14. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.
Tickets:
Tickets to watch Bulls baseball at the USF Baseball Stadium may be purchased by calling 1-800-GoBulls or clicking
HERE.
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About USF Baseball
The South Florida Baseball program played its first season in 1966 and will enter its 60th campaign in 2025. Mitch Hannahs was named South Florida's eighth head coach in program history on June 8, 2024, after compiling 355 wins over 11 seasons at Indiana State. The 2023 ABCA NCAA DI Midwest Region Coach of the Year guided the Sycamores to six conference titles and five NCAA Regionals. The Bulls have made 14 NCAA Tournament appearances and earned their first-ever Super Regional berth in 2021. 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 and 19 Bulls have earned Freshman All-America accolades. USF has had 131 MLB Draft Picks. Former 2018 first-round draft pick, Shane McClanahan, is a two-time MLB All-Star.
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