Barbosa struggled with his command early, with only eight of his eighteen pitches in the first inning finding the strike zone. After allowing a single and a walk with one out in the first, Barbosa settled down to retire 15 of the last 17 batters he faced, including ten straight.

The Bulls' senior lefty finished allowing just three hits in six shutout innings. He struck out four and walked just one.

USF put together a two-out rally in the second to open the scoring. Matt Hart doubled off Leopards' starter John Gentile, and Andrew Longley followed by drawing a four-pitch walk. Kyle Teaf then singled through the right side to score Hart with the Bulls' first run.

USF continued that trend in the third.

Alex Mendez led off with a four-pitch walk, and Chad Taylor followed by grounding a potential double play ball to short. Freshman shortstop James McCool misplayed the ball allowing both runners to reach safely.

The Bulls made him pay when James Ramsay chopped a single over the head of first baseman Brad Hopek to bring home Mendez. Todd Brazeal followed with a RBI single, and Jimmy Falla hit a groundout to second that allowed Ramsay to score, putting USF up 4-0.

USF added one more in the fourth. Luis Llerena launched a one-out double off the left field wall. Mendez singled and was gunned down attempting to take second, but the throw allowed Llerena to come in and score the fifth and final run of the evening.

Leasure came on in relief of Barbosa in the seventh, making his fourth appearance in a Bulls uniform. The junior transfer set down the first eight batters he faced before allowing back-to-back two out singles in the ninth. Leasure finished by freezing Bobby Fargnoli on a called third to pick up his first save.

The Bulls (13-6) and Leopards (4-9-1) face off in game two of the three game set on Saturday at 6 p.m.