USF Baseball: Bulls faces Stetson in home-and-home series beginning Friday

The red-hot Bulls’ offense will face undefeated Stetson and a stout pitching staff.

MATCHUP: USF vs. Stetson (three-game series)

SCHEDULE: Friday, 6:30 p.m. & Saturday, 2 p.m. (at Stetson), Sunday, 4 p.m. at USF Baseball Stadium

FOLLOW: Stetson Live Stats |USF Live Stats I Twitter updates @USFBaseball

RADIO: BullsUnlimited (iheart Radio)

WATCH: Hatter Vision (Stetson) | ESPN+(USF)

GAME NOTES: PDF

TAMPA (March 4, 2021) – Riding high off a dramatic four-game sweep last weekend, the USF baseball team (4-3) takes on undefeated Stetson University (10-0) in a three-game series starting on Friday, March 5 in DeLand at 6:30 p.m. The Bulls and Hatters will also play a single game at Stetson on Saturday before closing the series in Tampa at USF Baseball Stadium on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Head coach Billy Mohl (4th season) has announced Jack Jasiak (Spring Hill) and Brad Lord (Crawfordville) as USF’s starting pitchers in the first two ballgames, respectively, with Sunday’s starter yet to be determined.

Jasiak (1-0) has posted quality starts in both outings this season. In the opener against FAMU last weekend, the redshirt freshman notched his first career complete game (7.0 IP). Jasiak allowed just two hits (career low) and walked one while striking out nine batters. The right-hander has struck out 14 and walked just one this year, and his 14.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio ranks 12th in the NCAA.

Lord (1-1) was equally impressive in his start vs. FAMU. The redshirt sophomore allowed just three hits and struck out seven batters over 7.0 IP for his first win with the Green & Gold.

True freshmen Drew Brutcher (Lakeland) and Matt Ruiz (Hialeah) continue to rake at the plate. Ruiz entered this week ranked second in the country in hits (17), fifth in doubles (5), sixth in total bases (27) and 18th in batting average (.531). Brutcher is batting a cool .462 and ranks 28th in the nation in OBP (.600).

Riley Hogan (Orlando) was named to the AAC Honor Roll this week after .400 against FAMU with two doubles, three homers and 11 RBI. Hogan belted a trio of three-run homers, in consecutive days, in that series and secured the sweep on Sunday with a walk-off double. Freshman Keanu Jacobs-Guishard (Philipsburg, St. Maarten) set the stage for Hogan by blasting his first collegiate homer, a two-run shot, to begin the ninth inning that saw USF erase a six-run deficit in its comeback win.  

Collectively, the Bulls currently rank 14th in the country in his (79), 23rd in batting average (.316), 27th in slugging (.484), 39th in runs (51) and 50th in runs/game (7.3).

Scouting Stetson

The Hatters are off to their best start in program history and are coming off a 6-5 comeback victory over UCF on Wednesday which helped Stetson become the first team in the country to 10 wins. The matchup with USF will be strength versus strength as the Bulls’ hot offense faces a Stetson pitching staff that ranks fourth in the country with a 1.56 ERA. Nick DiPonzio (.450), Hernen Sardinas (.353) and Andrew MacNeil (.333) pace the Hatters’ offense. That trio has totaled 14 extra-base hits, four homers and 22 RBI. Sardinas and MacNeil were both members of the Stetson squad that reached the NCAA Super Regionals in 2018 with a record of 48-13.  Nick Durgin (1-0, 2.08 ERA), Jovan Gill (2-0, 0.00) and Chris Gonzalez (2-0, 1.88) have been announced as the Hatters’ probable starting pitchers for the series, respectively.

Up Next

Following this three-game series, the Bulls continue their non-conference slate with a single game at Florida State on Tuesday, March 9 in Tallahassee.

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.

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