Roberto Peña went 4-for-4 with three extra-base hits and three RBI in an 8-2 USF win.
WICHITA, Kan. (May 14, 2021) – The USF Bulls (21-23, 11-11 AAC) opened their final four-game road trip of the regular season on Friday and earned a split with the Wichita State Shockers (26-19, 14-11 AAC). Dylan Burns (Vero Beach) logged his second straight quality start and got plenty of offensive support in the opener, an 8-2 USF victory, before WSU pulled away late in the finale for a 9-3 win.
Daniel Cantu (Jacksonville) and Roberto Peña (Caracas, Venezuela) combined to go 7-for-7 with two homers, three doubles, five runs scored and six RBI in the opening game.
Game 1
The USF offense did a bulk of its damage against Wichita State’s Jace Kaminska, who entered the day leading the AAC with a 1.23 ERA (ranked fourth in the country). The Bulls tagged the right-hander for seven runs on eight hits over 4.2 IP. Not only was it the first time this season Kaminska had allowed two homers, but the first time he was charged with more than two earned runs in an outing.
Six of the Bulls’ 10 total hits went for extra-bases as USF began its barrage in the second inning with back-to-back doubles by Peña and Cantu for the first run of the game. Two batters later, Nick Gonzalez (Tampa) staked Burns to a 2-0 lead on the mound with a sacrifice fly.
Burns, who struck out three in the first frame, proceeded to strike out the side again in the second inning.
With Burns already cruising, Peña unloaded on a three-run homer in the third to make it a 5-0 affair. In the fifth, Peña recorded his second double of the game and came around to score on a two-run homer by Cantu as the lead swelled to 7-0.
The Shockers broke up the shutout bid with a run in the bottom of the sixth, only to see the Bulls continue to slug in the top of the seventh on a leadoff home run by Riley Hogan (Orlando).
Burns (4-4) allowed just the one run on six hits over 6.0 IP. The redshirt senior matched his career high with 10 strikeouts for the second consecutive outing.
Game 2
Collin Sullivan (Randolph, Mass.) took the mound in the nightcap for USF and blanked the Shockers over his first fourth innings of work before the home team scratched across the first run of the tilt in the bottom of the fifth.
The Bulls answered in a hurry to take a 2-1 lead in the top of the sixth frame. A one-out single by Matt Ruiz (Hialeah) put a pair of runners on base in front of a walk by Peña to load the bases. Cantu then drew a bases-loaded walk to knot the score and Jake Sullivan (Tampa) put down a bunt to chase home the go-ahead run.
USF’s lead was short-lived though as the Shockers got to C. Sullivan for three runs in the bottom of the sixth, including back-to-back RBI-triples.
Wichita State tacked on five more runs against the bullpen in the seventh. J. Sullivan picked up his second RBI of the game and accounted for the final run of the evening with a sacrifice fly in the eighth.
Notable
- Burns recorded his fourth quality start of the season and is 2-1 with a 1.93 ERA (4 ER/18.2 IP) and 27 strikeouts over his last three outings.
- Joseph Sanchez (Miami) struck out three and allowed just one hit over 2.1 IP of scoreless relief of Burns in Game 1.
- Peña’s four hits in Game 1 are a new career high…he has six three-RBI games this season.
- Cantu finished the doubleheader with four RBI.
- C. Sullivan had his streak of three straight quality starts come to an end in the Game 2 setback.
- Caleb Pundsack (Groveland) tossed a scoreless inning of relief in Game 2 and has not allowed a run in his last five appearances (4.1 IP).
- Carmine Lane (Lake Placid) went 2-for-5 with a double in Game 2.
Up Next
The Bulls and Shockers play Game 3 of their four-game series on Saturday at 3 p.m.
About USF Baseball
The USF Baseball program played its first season in 1966 and is entering its 56th season in 2021. The Bulls have won 1,628 games entering the 2021 season and made 13 NCAA Tournament appearances, including three since 2015. The Bulls have won four conference tournament titles (3 Sun Belt and 1 Metro) and had 126 all-conference selections. USF baseball players have been recognized with All-America honors 12 times, most recently with third baseman David Villar in 2018. Four players were selected in the 2018 MLB Draft, including the program’s fourth first round selection in pitcher Shane McClanahan, who appeared in the 2020 World Series with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Bulls saw continued success in head coach Billy Mohl’s first season in 2018, reaching 36 wins, advancing to the semifinals of the conference tournament for the first time since 2012, and making the program’s latest NCAA Tournament appearance while also achieving a ranking in multiple polls for the final two months of the season.
– #GoBulls –
