Jack Cebert logged his seventh career quality start on the mound and notched his first career hit in Saturday’s 9-5 win.
TAMPA (March 23, 2024) – John Montes (Toa Alto, Puerto Rico) launched a grand slam and tallied a career-best five RBI on Saturday afternoon as the University of South Florida Bulls (13-10, 1-1 AAC) evened their weekend series with the Memphis Tigers (12-13, 1-0 AAC) with a 9-5 victory at USF Baseball Stadium.
Jack Cebert (Tampa) turned in his second quality start of the season and gave the South Florida bullpen a much-needed day of rest. Cebert (3-1) allowed two runs on seven hits and struck out five over 6.0 IP. He also went 1-for-2 with a single and sacrifice bunt at the plate on an unusual day that saw the Bulls play without the DH in their lineup.
Montes’ grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning proved to be the difference in the ballgame as USF held off Memphis over the final two innings of play.
The Bulls jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning and padded the lead to 5-0 in the fourth frame on a two-out RBI-single by Montes.
Cebert sat the Tigers down in order in the third and fourth innings before Memphis finally got to the right-hander for a pair of runs in the top of the fifth. The Tigers threatened again in the sixth inning, but Cebert escaped a jam with an inning-ending double play.
Nick Pienda (Davie) also squashed a Memphis threat when he took over on the hill in the top of the seventh inning with a another big inning-ending double play.
Memphis cut its deficit to 5-4 in the top of the eighth ahead of Montes’ grand slam in the bottom of the inning and plated one more run in the ninth before Chandler Dorsey (Lakeland) nailed down his fourth save of the season.
Notable
- Montes and Stewart Puckett (DeLeon Springs) finished the day with three hits apiece.
- The grand slam by Montes was the first by a Bull since Eric Snow on March 5, 2023. Snow hit grand slams on back-to-back days (3/4-5/23).
- Dorsey drew a walk in his plate appearance in the eighth inning.
- Cebert now has seven quality starts in his career which is tied for the most on the pitching staff.
- Jackson Mayo (St. Johns), who had his career-best 11-game hitting streak snapped on Friday, went 2-for-4 on Saturday. He has hit safely in 19 of the last 22 games.
- Drew Brutcher (Lakeland) went 1-for-2 with three walks. He has walked at least once in 17 of 23 games this season. Brutcher has drawn two or more walks in a game 10 times this season. He is four free passes away from tying for 10th all-time in program history for career walks (126).
Up Next
The rubber match between the Bulls and Tigers is set for Sunday, March 24 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 59th 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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