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USF Baseball has been playing well lately. Ever since I posted that article complaining about the ineptitude of the team, they've gotten much better fundamentally. Errors are relatively down. Hits are up. And wins are up. It's good to see the team making a turn for the better at the beginning of conference play. This weekend, the Bulls hosted Georgetown for a three-game Big East opener and dominated the series. Pitching was great, and the hitting was better than it's been all season. It's been a good weekend.
But I'm not backing off what I said a few weeks ago. I'm still not convinced that this is a good team. Georgetown is not a good baseball team. You're supposed to sweep them. The fact still remains that we've been pounded by UCF twice and we fail to show up for games that could get us a little respect. I still believe that the defense needs to improve. We've still had errors in too many games this year. Hitting has been solid lately, but it needs to stay consistent if we're going to have a chance at the postseason. This past weekend, we saw something from the Bulls that we've been dying to see all year: Manufacturing runs. A majority of the runs scored this series have been a result of collecting a couple hits in a row. But these guys are still the kings of runners left on base. We won 7-2 today, and I know this sounds strange, but we only scored seven runs. USF loaded the bases on four occasions, but never scored more than two runs in a given inning. Good baseball teams get singles in those situations. In the final stat line, USF left 13 runners on. The guy who is going to carry this offense in C Andrew Longley. In every game I've seen, Longley has always had the best at-bats. Even when he falls behind in the count, Longley fouls away a handful of pitches to work his way back and level the count. You'd be hard pressed to find a better batter on this team. We don't even need everyone to hit like him, but if we could get our guys to sit on pitches and make the pitcher toss him something different, we'd have a much better lineup.
Don't take this the wrong way, though. I am very pleased with the improvement I've seen in this team. I'd rather be leaving guys on base than not getting on base at all. And pitching has been great. Matt Reed, Joe Lovecchio, and Andrew Barbosa each pitched awesome games. Barbosa was unstoppable, striking out 13 batters. Lovecchio only gave up one earned run in 7.2 innings. Reed made some mistakes, but he made them at very opportune times. He have up a hit here and there, and even a home run, but it was all in non-threatening situations. I am still not absolutely turned around by this series, but I am now just a little bit more optimistic about the rest of the season.
Still unshaven, still winning. Wednesday is becoming my favorite day of the week in the Spring. There's a basketball game, usually a baseball game, and, if you're lucky, a softball game or two as well. Yesterday, all of the above applied.
The day began at 4:00 PM when USF Baseball took on Jacksonville to cap their two-game home series (sorry if you read my last post and got there at 7. That was my bad). After the previous night, you would have thought the Bulls would have come out pumped that they're back in the win column and get on the field with a bit of life in them. If you did think that, you clearly don't know USF Baseball. Kyle Parker, who inexplicably still has a scholarship to play baseball, got tagged for five earned runs on six hits and four walks in 3.1 innings. Not a good day. But what really made this a USF Baseball game is the two runs. Not just that, but those two runs were off nine hits and three errors (there were probably more errors, but the scorekeeper probably just left some of those out again). THIS IS A REAL QUOTE FROM LELO PRADO: "You're not going to pitch a shutout every time". It'd be nice if we could at least give ourselves a chance.
But the day did get better. USF women's tennis beat Boston College in dominant form, snapping a slump they've been going through lately. Then, at 5:00, the softball team started a doubleheader against Central Michigan. The pitching wasn't outstanding, and the hitting only came alive for one inning, but the ladies got the job done, winning 5-2. The highlight of the game was Janine Richardson's two-run homer to cap a great 4th inning that gave USF the lead, which it held onto for the rest of the game. The nightcap started around 7:20, and Sam Greiner took the mound. I have no idea how she did it, but starting pitcher Sam Greiner saw a whole lot of batters, loaded the bases a couple times, gave up seven hits, only struck out two, but still managed to give up only two runs in four innings (one earned). Once again, a fourth inning rally pushed USF up over CMU, giving them a 5-2 lead after trailing 2-1. The highlight of that game was definitely left fielder Ashli Goff, who hosed down a runner at the plate to end the second inning. USF ultimately won the game, 6-2. They play again Friday at the USF Softball Stadium, where they host Penn State at 2:00 PM and Virginia Tech at 4:15.
And then came the real reason we're here. The Louisville-Seton Hall game turned out to be a little closer than expected, but Louisville ended up taking the quarterfinal matchup and will play Marquette at 7. The game ran a bit longer than expected, so USF tipped off around 9:40. Right out of the gates, USF made it their game, never trailing for the duration. In fact, the last time they were tied was when the score was 0-0. I think they set a good pace for the game, but they defintely got sloppy and had a lot of things that aren't going to fly when they play Notre Dame tonight. The stat of the night: USF had more turnovers than baskets. That's something that will have to change fast. I believe in the playoff beard, though, and I'll be looking forward to not shaving tomorrow morning as well.
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Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/nascyUSF
In the late part of last football season, I decided that I wasn't going to shave until USF football lost. It was December, and their only game was the bowl game against Clemson, which they dominated. So I decided to keep it going and not shave until the Jets were out of the playoffs. They ended up making it all the way to the AFC championship game. Sadly, I had to part with the facial growth, but I decided that it would definitely become a recurring thing. So what better time to do it than whan USF has a chance to make some magic? I'll catalog my playoff beard days until the next time USF basketball loses.
Freshly shaved, I got out of bed with only two responsibilities for the day: Watch Big East basketball and go to the USF Baseball game. The day started off as expected, with Seton Hall beating Providence and Connecticut beating DePaul. Then things got awesome. USF Men's Basketball coach Stan Heath won the Big East Coach of the Year award yesterday after improving a dismal 10-23 team to one that has a shot at the NCAA tournament for the first time in two decades. Personally, I think the award is well-deserved, but there are many people I've talked with (mostly Cincinnati fans) who believe Cincy coach Mick Cronin was more deserving of the title. At least we can all agree on one thing: It isn't Jim Calhoun. Anyway, things took a turn for the even better when #15 seed Villanova demolished #10 seed Rutgers in the late game. I had said just before the game that I was hoping not to play Rutgers because they were currently hot and our game against them was too close to be confident about.
Confident in my playoff beard so far, I entered the USF baseball stadium to see the Bulls take on Jacksonville University. And if you've read my past posts, you know how I feel about USF baseball. I wasn't expecting much, but I was hoping maybe USF could pull together and finally beat a team from the state of Florida. What I got was an 8-0 thrashing of the Dolphins, thanks to a large set of JU errors that I'm pretty sure I could have played properly. The only complaint I have from the night is that whoever is the USF scorekeeper for these games should be fired immediately because that person clearly does not understand baseball.
So not a bad first day for the playoff beards. But tonight is where it counts. USF Softball plays a doubleheader against Central Michigan, beginning at 5; Baseball plays the last of this two game series against Jacksonville at 7; and of course USF Basketball takes on Villanova at 9 PM. If anyone needs me or my facial hair, we'll be at World of Beer or Lee Roy Selmon's tonight watching the Bulls make their run for the tournament.
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Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/nascyUSF
I don't know about you guys, but I came into this USF baseball season pretty excited and optimistic about USF's chance for improvement. Of course I knew there would be holes to fill both offensively and defensively with the losses of Junior Carlin, Jonathan Kocsco, and Sam Mende, but I thought some new blood would be good for a team trying to get back on its feet after another disappointing season in 2010-11. How wrong I was.
After sweeping the first three games of the season in the Big East/Big 10 baseball tournament against formidable opponents Ohio State, Michigan State (who won the conference last year), and Minnesota, Bulls fans were feeling pretty good. I was at that first home game of the season. You know, the one where we were all pumped for baseball season to be here, and then we got thrashed by North Florida? It was after that 9-1 beatdown that we USF fans sort of pumped the brakes. We were still optimistic, though. After all, 3-1 is still a pretty good record, right? We turned around to play Bethune-Cookman over the weekend, and took game one. Not bad. But then we dropped the next two to drop our record to 4-3. Nevertheless, against my better judgment I made the drive all the way over to Orlando to see the Bulls take on #19 Central Florida. I figured even a decent showing for USF would restore at least a little confidence in this team. Instead, USF got handed a 12-1 bulldozing and a long drive back for me and my friends.
Now, USF is 4-4 on the season after a 3-0 start. All four losses are to teams in non-major conferences. All four losses are to teams from the state for Florida. In these four losses, the Bulls have been outscored, 30-5. They've been outhit 52-23. They've committed seven errors. I'll continue to watch the games, but as of now I am officially off the optimism train.
USF visits the New York Yankees' spring training squad today for a leisurely exhibition at 1:00 PM. I'll be there again. I'd like to think I'm not a bad luck charm for this team, and somehow I think they'd be doing just the same no matter where I am.
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Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/nascyUSF
Sports News
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Bulls Lose Regular-Season Finale 10-6, Finish 4th in Big East
TAMPA – Numerous comeback attempts fell short on Saturday, as USF dropped a 10-6 final to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Senior Day at the USF Baseball Stadium. The Bulls took two of three in the series, and will be the No. 4 seed in the Big East Conference Tournament.
USF (35-20, 17-7) fell behind early in the regular-season finale, and could not thwart off the Rutgers offense as the Scarlet Knights (26-28, 14-10) continued to tack on throughout the game. Rutgers got to Bulls senior starter Joey Lovecchio (5-5) for three runs on five hits in just two innings.
The Bulls got one back in the second. After back-to-back strikeouts opened the inning, Anthony Diaz battled his way to a nine-pitch walk off Rutgers starter Rob Corsi. That kept the inning alive for Levi Borders, who dropped a single into right-center, and Nik Alfonso followed with a base hit through the left side to cut the deficit to 3-1.
The Rutgers lead shrank again in the third, when Jimmy Falla singled with one out and later scored on Blake Sydeski’s RBI single to right.
Corsi lasted four innings for the Scarlet Knights, permitting two runs on six hits. The senior lefty did not factor in the decision.
With Lovecchio done after two, the Bulls called upon midweek starter Mike Clarkson. The right-hander worked around some trouble to throw two scoreless frames before Jeff Melillo opened the fifth with a blast over the wall in left-center, his second homer in as many days. That extended the Rutgers lead to 4-2.
The Scarlet Knights added another with a run off Adrian Puig, but the Bulls kept it close with a run of their own off Jon Young (3-1) in the home half. Falla and Sydeski singles placed men at the corners with one out, and a wild pitch allowed Falla to come in and score the third USF run of the day.
An error opened the door for Rutgers to break it open in the seventh. With two down and a runner at first, a ground ball to Kyle Teaf resulted in the sophomore shortstop firing high over the head of Falla at first, and the ball bounced out of play to allow the runners to take second and third. After a walk loaded the bases, Vinny Zarillo brought them all around with a double to give Rutgers the 8-3 lead.
Down 9-3 after the Scarlet Knights added another in the eighth, the Bulls mounted a final rally. Two singles, a hit batsman, and a Teaf RBI single started the frame. Alex Mendez came up with the bases loaded and delivered a sacrifice fly to right, and after James Ramsay reached on an infield hit, Falla greeted closer Tyler Gebbler with a single to make it 9-6.
USF had the bases loaded - with the tying run at first – for Chris Norton, but the senior hit a grounder back to the hill that resulted in a 1-2-3 double play to end the rally.
Mendez took over on the hill in the ninth, and would allow his first earned run of the year. Gebbler then set the Bulls down in order in the last of the ninth, notching his third save.
The loss for USF was just its first at home in Big East conference play. Overall, the Bulls wrapped up the year with a 25-5 record at the USF Baseball Stadium.
Nine senior were honored in an on-field ceremony before the game - Lovecchio, Mendez, Falla, Norton, Diaz, and Puig, along with Kyle Copack, Chad Taylor, and Steven Leasure.
USF earned the No. 4 seed heading into the Big East Conference tournament, and will be facing a familiar foe in the opening round. Rutgers will be the No. 5 seed, and the two teams will square off at 5 p.m. on Wednesday at Bright House Field in Clearwater, Fla.
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Bulls Lose Regular-Season Finale 10-6, Finish 4th in Big East
TAMPA – Numerous comeback attempts fell short on Saturday, as USF dropped a 10-6 final to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Senior Day at the USF Baseball Stadium. The Bulls took two of three in the series, and will be the No. 4 seed in the Big East Conference Tournament.
USF (35-20, 17-7) fell behind early in the regular-season finale, and could not thwart off the Rutgers offense as the Scarlet Knights (26-28, 14-10) continued to tack on throughout the game. Rutgers got to Bulls senior starter Joey Lovecchio (5-5) for three runs on five hits in just two innings.
The Bulls got one back in the second. After back-to-back strikeouts opened the inning, Anthony Diaz battled his way to a nine-pitch walk off Rutgers starter Rob Corsi. That kept the inning alive for Levi Borders, who dropped a single into right-center, and Nik Alfonso followed with a base hit through the left side to cut the deficit to 3-1.
The Rutgers lead shrank again in the third, when Jimmy Falla singled with one out and later scored on Blake Sydeski’s RBI single to right.
Corsi lasted four innings for the Scarlet Knights, permitting two runs on six hits. The senior lefty did not factor in the decision.
With Lovecchio done after two, the Bulls called upon midweek starter Mike Clarkson. The right-hander worked around some trouble to throw two scoreless frames before Jeff Melillo opened the fifth with a blast over the wall in left-center, his second homer in as many days. That extended the Rutgers lead to 4-2.
The Scarlet Knights added another with a run off Adrian Puig, but the Bulls kept it close with a run of their own off Jon Young (3-1) in the home half. Falla and Sydeski singles placed men at the corners with one out, and a wild pitch allowed Falla to come in and score the third USF run of the day.
An error opened the door for Rutgers to break it open in the seventh. With two down and a runner at first, a ground ball to Kyle Teaf resulted in the sophomore shortstop firing high over the head of Falla at first, and the ball bounced out of play to allow the runners to take second and third. After a walk loaded the bases, Vinny Zarillo brought them all around with a double to give Rutgers the 8-3 lead.
Down 9-3 after the Scarlet Knights added another in the eighth, the Bulls mounted a final rally. Two singles, a hit batsman, and a Teaf RBI single started the frame. Alex Mendez came up with the bases loaded and delivered a sacrifice fly to right, and after James Ramsay reached on an infield hit, Falla greeted closer Tyler Gebbler with a single to make it 9-6.
USF had the bases loaded - with the tying run at first – for Chris Norton, but the senior hit a grounder back to the hill that resulted in a 1-2-3 double play to end the rally.
Mendez took over on the hill in the ninth, and would allow his first earned run of the year. Gebbler then set the Bulls down in order in the last of the ninth, notching his third save.
The loss for USF was just its first at home in Big East conference play. Overall, the Bulls wrapped up the year with a 25-5 record at the USF Baseball Stadium.
Nine senior were honored in an on-field ceremony before the game - Lovecchio, Mendez, Falla, Norton, Diaz, and Puig, along with Kyle Copack, Chad Taylor, and Steven Leasure.
USF earned the No. 4 seed heading into the Big East Conference tournament, and will be facing a familiar foe in the opening round. Rutgers will be the No. 5 seed, and the two teams will square off at 5 p.m. on Wednesday at Bright House Field in Clearwater, Fla.
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Walk-off Win Sends Bulls to Series Victory over Rutgers
Tampa- The USF Bulls baseball team had a real nail bitter on Friday evening but came away with a win against the Rutgers University Scarlet Knights (25-28,13-10) 6-5 in front of the largest capacity crowd of the season.
The Bulls (35-19, 17-6) went to work early as they scored three runs in the first inning. Kyle Teaf led off the game with a single into right field. Two batters later, James Ramsay walked and was followed by a ground-rule double by Jimmy Falla to drive in Teaf and make it 1-0. Two batters later, Buddy Putnam hit a long single into right center field bringing around Ramsay and Falla to make the score 3-0.
In the fifth inning, Nick Favatella reached base with a single but would be thrown out in a double play attempt by fellow Scarlet Knight Vinny Zarrillo the next at bat. As Zarillo reached first base safely, Jeff Meilillo stepped up to the plate afterwards and cranked one over the left field fence to shrink the Bulls lead to 3-2.
In the sixth inning, the Scarlet Knights took the lead 4-3 with runs from Brian O’Brady and John Jennings after an error and a wild pitch by the Bulls. The Bulls would, in the same inning, take the lead back.
Chris Norton would start it off with a single followed by a Putnam walk. Kyle Copack laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners to the next bases. Zac Gilcrease would hit a two RBI double bringing around Norton and Copack to retake the lead 5-4.
The Scarlet Knights would threaten once again in the ninth inning. Zarrillo would lead off the inning with a single but eventually was thrown out of a double play attempt but Melillo would reach first safely. Steve Zavala walked and Charlie Law would single to load up the bases. O’Brady would hit a sacrifice fly out to deep right center and Melillo would tag up from third to tie the game 5-5.
Nik Alfonso would begin the bottom of the ninth with a double that would eventually prove to be the winning run. Alex Mendez and Ramsay would walk two batters later. Jimmy Falla would come up with the bases loaded and hit into a fielder’s choice which allowed Alfonso to score for a final score of 6-5.
The Bulls will play their final regular season game Saturday on Senior Day against Rutgers at 1:00pm.
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Bulls Win Big Over Rutgers, 11-4
TAMPA - - USF baseball defeated Rutgers (25-27) on Thursday, 11-4. USF advances to (34-19) on the season.
The Bulls started out strong at the plate, putting up nine runs in the first two innings. In the first, Kyle Teaf, Alex Mendez, James Ramsay and Jimmy Falla all had hits. Chris Norton popped one in the air allowing Ramsay to tag up and score, and Anthony Diaz bunted allowing Falla to come home. At the end of one, the Bulls were sitting pretty with a lead of 4-0.
Early in the second inning, Ramsay slammed one to deep center field for a double to bring Mendez home, and this brought on the first of three pitching changes for the Scarlet Knights. After Falla walked, Norton would hit a double to deep center field allowing Ramsay and Falla to ease across the plate. After two innings the Bulls had a commanding lead of 9-0.
The Scarlet Knights had a slew of wild pitches and ended up with three errors on the night. The Scarlet Knights also left a total of 11 men on base.
Ramsay finished with four hits and two RBI’s, Mendez finished with two hits and two RBI’s and Norton with one hit and three RBI’s.
Jimmy Herget got the win for the Bulls, as he pitched a total of five innings and only allowed six hits and two runs.
The Bulls will play the second game of a three game series with Rutgers on May 17 at 7 p.m.
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Bulls Run Down Eagles, Win 6-4
FORT MYERS – Equally sprightly and patient bats proved key to the USF baseball squad as they soared to a Tuesday night victory over the Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles. The Bulls defeated FGCU 6-4 in the final non-conference matchup of the 2013 season and improved their record to 33-19.
The Bulls hitters eyed the strike zone with patient accuracy in the first inning as four walks off Eagles’ left-handed starter Brandon Bixler, who lasted only 2/3 of an inning and dealt 24 pitches, lead to an early run as a Levi Borders walk forced in Alex Mendez. A single by Anthony Diaz drove in James Ramsay, amplifying the Bulls lead by another run. The team ended the inning with a 2-0 advantage.
Hustle on the basepaths by Kyle Teaf, who stole second after hitting a single, garnered a third run for the Bulls in the second inning on an RBI single by Ramsay off of right-hander Danny Patrick.
The Eagles offense was restrained by Bulls sophomore starter Mike Clarkson up until faltering control lead to a big Eagles sixth inning. Clarkson, who had kept the opposing offense to a mere two hits through five innings, found himself in a spot after three consecutive singles by Alex Diaz, Mike Reeves, and Michael Suchy flagged one run and disallowed any outs.
An error committed by Clarkson while attempting a sliding launch to first baseman Jimmy Falla wrought two more runs for FGCU, but a combined effort by Janick Sarrallonga and Adrian Puig (4-0) steered the Bulls out of potential crisis and maintained a tied ballgame.
Motivated Bulls bats broke out once again in the seventh as they sent six batters to the plate against reliever RJ Brown. Brown’s final inning out of the three he worked consisted of two more runs to the Bulls, including a sacrifice fly by Ramsay. Ramsay successfully hailed a 2-for-3 performance with two RBIs and a walk under his belt and an increase in his overall batting average to a stellar .334, the highest on the Bulls team.
A spurt in the ninth inspired one final score after pinch-hitter Kyle Copack grounded into a force at second and allowed the runner at third to hit home plate, settling the Bulls’ scoreboard count to six and securing the loss for Brown.
Abnormal unsteadiness by Lawrence Pardo, who entered the evening with a 1.74 earned run average over 29 appearances, raised pulses in the Bulls dugout during the Eagles’ half of the ninth. A notable 14-pitch at-bat by Brooks Beisner marked the second of a trio of walks allowed by an off-balance Pardo. The left-hander yielded three baserunners to sophomore Jordan Strittmatter.
Strittmatter allowed merely one to score via a sacrifice fly to Zack Tillery, and thereafter denied bases to the remaining two batters. Strittmatter ended the game with a fly out to Ramsay in center, securing the victory for a Bulls team who had in March struggled against FGCU, and ticking for himself a second save for the year.
The Bulls’ hit count rounded to 11, three of which were supplied by Chris Norton in the designated hitter role. Nik Alfonso also put up a notable performance, going 2-for-4 on the night. Puig was granted the win after his one-out appearance in the sixth.
The team seeks the comforts of home-field advantage in their next set versus Rutgers University. USF currently sits just atop Rutgers in the Big East standings, boasting a 15-6 Big East record to Rutgers’ opposing 13-8, and hopes to boost their overall home record above the current 23-4. This final regular season series commences on Thursday night at 7 p.m.