Daniel Cantu hit his 10th run home of the season in Saturday’s 14-8 victory.
TAMPA (April 22, 2023) – Five different Bulls launched home runs on Saturday afternoon as the University of South Florida (17-23, 6-5 AAC) out-slugged the UCF Knights (22-17, 4-7 AAC) in a 14-8 victory at USF Baseball Stadium to even the weekend’s War On I-4 series at one game apiece.
Daniel Cantu (Jacksonville), Joaquin Monque (Weston), Bobby Boser (Wesley Chapel), Drew Brutcher (Lakeland) and Rafael Betancourt (Deltona) each circled the bases as South Florida connected on a season-high five home runs.
Every Bull in the starting lineup scored at least once on Saturday, eight of the nine recorded a hit and seven tallied at least one RBI.
Cantu opened the slugfest with his 10th longball of the season in the bottom of the first inning and the Bulls never trailed for the duration of the ballgame. Monque blasted a three-run shot in the second inning and two batters later, Boser left the yard with his 10th homer of the year to give USF a 5-0 advantage.
UCF cut its deficit to 5-2 with a pair of runs in the top of the third inning, but the Bulls responded immediately with back-to-back home runs by Brutcher and Betancourt in the bottom of the third.
A two-run homer by the Knights in the top of the fourth was answered with an RBI-double by Eric Snow (Forsyth, Ga.) in the bottom of the frame to extend the USF lead to 9-4.
After a tally by UCF in the top of the seventh, the Bulls plated five more runs in the bottom of the frame and nearly run-ruled the Knights with the game-ending run 90 feet away before the inning came to an end.
Monque, Nelson Rivera (Toa Alto, Puerto Rico), Boser each drove in a run while Cantu added a two-run single in the bottom of the seventh inning before UCF escaped the frame with the game-ending run at third base.
The Knights went on to plate three runs in the top of the eighth to account for the final score.
Freshman Lawson Gailey (Lavonia, Ga.) moved from his midweek role on the mound to make his first career weekend start with Ethan Brown (Winter Garden) sidelined with an injury. Gailey struck out five and allowed four runs (three earned) on four hits over 4.0 IP.
Justin Jackson (Naples) picked up his first collegiate win in relief of Gailey. The southpaw allowed one run on three hits with three strikeouts over 3.0 IP. Dylan Vega (Pembroke Pines) blanked the Knights in a clean outing to record the final three outs of the ballgame.
Notable
- Brutcher moved into a tie for ninth place all-time for career home runs in USF history (28).
- Brutcher is batting .406 (13-for-32) with three doubles, four home runs and 11 RBI over his last 10 games.
- Cantu recorded new career highs in hits (51) and RBI (39) on Saturday. His 10 home runs are also a new career high.
- Boser is slugging 1.185 with one double, seven home runs and 11 RBI over his last seven games.
- Monque matched a career high with four RBI on Saturday.
- Monque is batting .462 (7-for-19) with two homers and eight RBI over his last five games.
Up Next
The Bulls and Knights conclude their three-game weekend series on Sunday, April 23 at 1 p.m. in Tampa. South Florida has won three of the first five meetings against UCF this season.
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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