Sonny Rao delivered a two-run double in the top of the ninth on Friday night.
CINCINNATI, Ohio (April 22, 2022) – The University of South Florida Bulls were three outs away from letting one get away on Friday night in the opener of a three-game series at the University of Cincinnati.
A pair of costly errors came back to bite the Bulls and erase an early 3-0 lead, but South Florida rallied for three runs in the top of the ninth inning to come from behind and hold on for a 10-9 victory.
Sonny Rao (Jacksonville) delivered the game-winning runs with a one-out double in the ninth to lift USF’s record to 22-16 (3-7 AAC). Cincinnati falls to 16-20 (6-4 AAC) with the loss.
Friday was the Bulls’ third win this season when entering the ninth inning without the lead.
Trailing 8-7 heading to the top of the ninth, Carmine Lane (Lake Placid) and Jackson Mayo (St. Johns) singled to open the frame. Marcus Brodil (Dunedin) was next and tallied his third hit of the night on a perfectly placed sacrifice bunt attempted that resulted in an infield single to load the bases.
Joaquin Monque promptly tied the game with a sacrifice fly and Rao followed with a two-run double to the right-center field gap.
The bottom of the ninth was anything but easy as the back-and-forth tilt required all 27 outs to declare a victor. The Bearcats loaded the bases with no outs and quickly made it a one-run ballgame with a sacrifice fly. The next Cincinnati hitter walked to reload the bases and put the tying and winning runs into scoring position.
Despite a shaky outing in the ninth, Hunter Mink (Palm Harbor) locked in amidst the high-pressure situation and struck out the next two batters to close out the dramatic win and secure his eighth save of the season.
Daniel Cantu (Jacksonville) matched a career-high with four RBI in the game. Cantu broke the scoring seal with a two-run double in the second inning and with USF trailing 7-4 in the sixth, cut the deficit to 7-6 with a two-run single.
Both teams owned and relinquished three-run leads in the ballgame. South Florida led 3-0 after three innings before a two-out error in the bottom of the fourth extended the frame and was immediately followed by a Cincinnati two-run homer to make it a one-run game.
The Bulls stretched their lead to 4-2 with a run in the top of the fifth before Cincinnati exploded for five runs in the bottom half of the inning, including an unearned run on a USF throwing error.
Trailing for the first time in the ballgame, USF began to chip away at its deficit over the next two innings.
After Cantu’s second run-scoring hit, the Bearcats tacked on one more in the bottom of the sixth, and a two-out RBI single by Rao once again made it a one-run game at 8-7 in the top of the seventh to set up the wild finish.
Notable
- South Florida has won three straight games overall and won each of its last three road contests.
- Rao (3-for-5, 3 RBI) tallied new career highs in hits and RBI. The freshman has five RBI over his last three games.
- Brodil, another true freshman, doubled and tripled in the game.
- A Bull has driven in four or more runs in a game nine times this season – Cantu has done it twice.
- Nolan Hudi (Safety Harbor) earned the win on the mound and improved to 3-1 on the year.
- Tanner Mink (Palm Harbor) logged 1.2 IP of scoreless relief and has not allowed a run over his last 6.1 IP.
Up Next
The Bulls and Bearcats continue their weekend series at 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 23 in Cincinnati.
For tickets, please visit usfbullstix.com or call 1-800-Go-Bulls.
About USF Baseball
The USF Baseball program played its first season in 1966 and is entering its 57th season in 2022. Head coach Billy Mohl is entering his fifth season at the helm. 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 18 have earned Freshman All-America accolades, most recently Drew Brutcher and Carmine Lane in 2021. Four players were selected in the 2018 MLB Draft, including the program’s fourth first-round selection in pitcher Shane McClanahan, who made his Major League debut with the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2020 World Series and was the Rays’ postseason game one starter in 2021.
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