Daniel Cantu hit his first homer run of the season on Sunday afternoon.
TAMPA (February 19, 2023) – Drew Brutcher (Lakeland) and Daniel Cantu (Jacksonville) each homered for the University of South Florida Bulls on Sunday afternoon, but No. 13 Maryland hit three home runs and claimed the weekend series by a score of 9-5 in the finale at USF Baseball Stadium.
South Florida won the opener on Friday, 8-7, and Maryland responded with an 8-1 win on Saturday before taking the rubber match on Sunday.
The Terrapins ranked second in the NCAA in total home runs last season (137) and clubbed six longballs over the three-game weekend series against USF, including a grand slam each day.
Sunday’s grand slam staked Maryland to an 8-2 advantage in the fifth inning and stood as the deciding blow, but the Bulls did not go down without a fight.
Cantu led off the bottom of the seventh with a single and Bobby Boser (Wesley Chapel) followed with a walk to put two on with no outs. Brutcher then unloaded on a 435-foot home run that landed on top of the batting cages in right-center field to make it an 8-5 game.
“I liked the fight we showed today,” said head coach Billy Mohl. “We competed this weekend against a really good team. Maryland hosted a Regional last season for a reason and I expect they’ll have the type of season again to do it this year. We came into the weekend with the understanding that we had some unknowns on the mound, and you saw a lot of young guys get their feet wet out there. Some had success and others struggled at times. It was a great atmosphere all weekend and grinding out that win Friday was a great way to open the season. We didn’t compete well on the mound or at the plate on Saturday, but it was good to see us trading blows this afternoon against a great opponent.”
Maryland opened the scoring on Sunday with a run in the top of the first frame, but Cantu quickly tied the score in the bottom of the first with a leadoff homer. The Bulls added another run later in the inning to take a 2-1 lead.
The Terrapins went ahead with a two-run homer in the third inning, added a solo home run in the fifth and a grand slam in the fifth gave them an 8-2 advantage before Brutcher’s three-run blast in the seventh.
Notable
- The Bulls used 14 pitchers over the three-game series, including five freshmen and seven total newcomers to the roster.
- Cantu finished the game 3-for-5 with a pair of runs scored.
- Travis Sankovich (Uniontown, Pa.) also went 3-for-5 on Sunday and finished the weekend 7-for-12 with two doubles and three RBI in his USF debt.
- Boser went 4-for-9 with three walks, a pair of home runs and four RBI over the weekend series.
Up Next
The Bulls will continue their loaded non-conference schedule on Tuesday against No. 7 Florida in Tampa. Game time is set for 6 p.m. USF will then travel to Gainesville on Wednesday for another matchup with the Gators.
About USF Baseball
The USF Baseball program played its first season in 1966 and is entering its 58th season in 2023 under head coach Billy Mohl (sixth 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 18 have earned Freshman All-America accolades, most recently Drew Brutcher and Carmine Lane in 2021. 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 –
