The Bulls end their first season under Mitch Hannahs with most wins since 2018
CLEARWATER, FLA., MAY 24, 2025– The No. 3-seeded South Florida Bulls (31-25; 16-11 American) took an early lead and rallied late but saw its 2025 American Athletic Conference Tournament run end in the semifinals with a 9-7 loss to the No. 6-seed East Carolina Pirates (32-25; 13-14 American) Saturday at BayCare Ballpark.
The Bulls finish their first season under head coach Mitch Hannahs with the program’s most wins since posting 36 in 2018. USF’s 16 conference wins marked its most since joining The American. The Bulls saw a five-win improvement both in conference and overall wins on the year as they reached the AAC Tournament semifinals for the fourth time in 11 tournaments.
On Saturday, the Bulls jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first inning as Marcus Brodil laced a one-out single into right field to drive in Carlos Jacome and Ryan Pruitt.
USF added two runs in the second when Jackson Mayo walked and Bradke Lohry singled, part of a three-hit effort on the day. Carter Murphy drove in Mayo with a ground out, the first of his team-leading three RBI in a 2-for-4 effort. Jacome singled to left to score Lohry and give the Bulls a 4-0 lead.
ECU cut the lead to one with a three-run home run from Austin Irby in the fourth.
Bulls starter Landen Yorek left with a 4-3 lead following a season-best equaling 4.0 innings, giving way to left-hander Corey Braun to start the fifth. Braun got the Bulls to the seventh with the lead before giving up a one-out, three-run home run over the right field wall to Dixon Williams that gave the Pirates a 6-4 lead.
The Bulls tied it in the bottom half of the seventh with back-to-back solo home runs from Lohry and Murphy with two outs. That chased ECU’s Ethan Young, who had retired 13 of the previous 15 batters in relief.
The Pirates retook a 9-6 lead in the ninth as Braden Burress led off with a home run and the Pirates turned a one-out USF error on a pop fly into two more runs with a triple and a single.
The Bulls attempted to rally with two out in the ninth. Lohry singled and Murphy followed with a double off the right field wall to score him, but a Jacome hard line drive was snared by the shortstop to end the game.
Key Stats:
- Landen Yorek got his third start of the season and left with a 4-3 lead, throwing a season high 80 pitches while giving up three runs on two hits in a season-best equaling 4.0 innings.
- USF and ECU faced each other five times over 10 days, three to finish the regular season and two in the tournament.
- Carter Murphy hit a home run for the second straight game, part of a team-leading three RBI on the day. Both of his home runs on the season have come in the tournament.
- Bradke Lohry hit his third home run of the season, part of a three-hit day that marked his 11th multi-hit game of the season.
- Marcus Brodil went 1-for-3 with two RBI and ends the year with a team-leading .330 batting average.
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About USF Baseball
The South Florida Baseball program played its first season in 1966 and will enter its 60th campaign in 2025. Mitch Hannahs was named South Florida’s eighth head coach in program history on June 8, 2024, after compiling 355 wins over 11 seasons at Indiana State. The 2023 ABCA NCAA DI Midwest Region Coach of the Year guided the Sycamores to six conference titles and five NCAA Regionals. The Bulls have made 14 NCAA Tournament appearances and earned their first-ever Super Regional berth in 2021. 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, and 19 Bulls have earned Freshman All-America accolades. USF has had 131 MLB Draft Picks. Former 2018 first-round draft pick Shane McClanahan is a two-time MLB All-Star.
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