Nolan Hudi recorded a career-high 10 strikeouts on Tuesday night.
TAMPA (March 7, 2023) – Sophomore left-hander Nolan Hudi (Safety Harbor) struck out a career-high 10 batters on Tuesday night at USF Baseball Stadium as the University of South Florida pitching staff combined for 14 strikeouts of the Pittsburgh Panthers in a 2-1 victory.
Hudi (1-1) allowed just one run on five hits and did not issue a walk over a career-best 6.0 IP. Tanner Mink (Palm Harbor) and Riley Skeen (Pompano Beach) combined for four strikeouts over 3.0 IP to close out the game.
The trio did not issue a free pass for the entire ballgame, marking the first such game for the USF pitching staff without a walk since February 25, 2022 against Stony Brook.
The Panthers got to Hudi for a solo home run in the top of the first inning, but the southpaw regrouped quickly and blanked Pitt for the remainder of his outing.
On the other side of the pitcher’s duel, Pittsburgh’s Holden Phelps was perfect through 4.2 IP until Travis Sankovich (Uniontown, Pa.) singled with two outs in the fifth inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, Stanton Leuthner (New Providence, N.J.) singled with one out and Daniel Cantu (Jacksonville) was hit by a pitch. Bobby Boser (Wesley Chapel) followed with an RBI-single to tie the game and John Montes (Toa Alto, Puerto Rico) laid down a sacrifice bunt to push across the go-ahead run.
T. Mink took over on the mound with the lead and struck out three before handing the ball off to Skeen for the save.
Notable
- The Bulls’ 14 total strikeouts are their second-most this season (16 at Florida State – 13 innings).
- Hudi’s 10 strikeouts are the most by a Bull since Orion Kerkering (10) on March 6, 2022 vs. Brown.
- Drew Brutcher (Lakeland) extended his hitting streak to nine straight games with a double on Tuesday.
- Montes also extended his hitting streak to eight straight games.
- Boser extended his streak of reaching base safely to 13 consecutive games to begin the season.
- Cantu has reached base safely in 11 straight games.
Up Next
The Bulls head to California for a three-game series at Long Beach State on March 10-12. Friday and Sunday’s games can be viewed on ESPN+.
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.
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