USF Baseball: Bulls stage another late-inning rally for fourth straight win

Kohl Robertson homered as part of a six-run eighth inning in a 12-7 comeback win.

TAMPA (March 9, 2024) – For the fourth straight game, the University of South Florida Bulls (9-5) used an explosive late-inning rally to complete a comeback victory, doing so for the second straight day to the North Carolina A&T Aggies (10-4) on Saturday afternoon, 12-7, at USF Baseball Stadium. Over the course of their four-game winning streak, the Bulls have outscored their opponents in the eighth and ninth innings, 27-1.

Friday night’s walk-off hero, Jackson Mayo (St. John’s), tied the game at 7-7 on Saturday in the bottom of the eighth inning with an RBI-single. Eric Snow (Forsyth, Ga.) followed with a two-run single for the lead and Kohl Robertson (Land O’ Lakes) capped the six-run frame with a three-run homer.

Saturday’s matinee followed the exact script of Friday’s comeback thriller with the North Carolina A&T jumping out to an early lead, USF clawing back to tie the game in the middle innings and the Aggies immediately answering to retake the advantage before the Bulls rallied late for the win.

On Saturday, the Aggies led by a 5-0 count after the top of the third inning. In the bottom of the third, Drew Brutcher (Lakeland) blasted his 36th career home run to put the Bulls on the board, which was USF’s first hit of the day. The Bulls and Aggies ended the game with 14 hits apiece.

South Florida strung together four straight hits to open the fourth frame, including an RBI-double by Snow and a two-run double by Ben Rozenblum (Coral Springs) to cut the deficit to 5-4. Two batters later, with two outs, Stewart Puckett (DeLeon Springs) knotted the score at 5-5 with an RBI-single. Puckett, a redshirt freshman, was making his first career start and logged his first collegiate hit and RBI in a clutch moment.

The Aggies instantly answered with the go-ahead run in the top of the fifth and padded their lead to 7-5 in the top of the seventh. In the bottom of the seventh, Rozenblum tallied his second run-scoring double of the game to make it a one-run ballgame.

The Bulls finished the day with eight extra-base hits compared to five by the Aggies, one of which was a high-chopping double over the head of a drawn in John Montes (Toa Alto, Puerto Rico) at first base. A&T’s run-scoring plays included a fielder’s choice, a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch, a foul pop out in front of the third base dugout that left home plate vacant and an infield single.

The seeing-eye singles and perfectly placed base hits were one-sided heading into the final frames until USF got its long-awaited break, which ignited the rally, when Brutcher blooped a ball into left-center field which he legged out into a double ahead of Mayo’s game-tying hit.

Notable

USF has scored 10 or more runs in seven of its 14 games this season, including three of the last four ballgames.
The Bulls have won six straight games at USF Baseball Stadium.
Brutcher is now three longballs away from tying Jason Dellaero (1996-97) for fifth all-time on the USF career home run list at 39.
Bobby Boser (Wesley Chapel) saw his streak of three straight games with a home run come to an end. He finished the day 2-for-5 with a double and two runs scored. Boser has hit safely in five straight games at a .524 clip with five homers, eight extra-base hits and 16 RBI in that span.
Montes tallied his team-best seventh multi-hit game on Saturday and has three doubles, five RBI and six runs scored over the last four games.
Robertson, a junior college transfer, registered his first D1 hit and home run on Saturday.
True freshman Dawson Mock (Mayo) logged his first career start on Saturday.
Tanner Mink (Palm Harbor) earned the win in relief with 1.2 scoreless innings of work.
Kyle Scrape (Tampa) also worked 1.2 IP and logged his third straight scoreless outing from the bullpen.

Up Next

The Bulls and Aggies wrap up their three-game weekend series on Sunday, March 10 at 1 p.m. in Tampa.

Double Play Passes, which include one ticket to every home baseball and softball game, can be purchased now for $99. Group and single game tickets are also on sale and can be purchased here or by calling 1-800-Go-Bulls.

About USF Baseball

The USF Baseball program played its first season in 1966 and is entering its 59^th season in 2024 under head coach Billy Mohl (seventh 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 19 have earned Freshman All-America accolades, most recently Eric Snow in 2023. 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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