Jackon Mayo extended his hitting streak to a career-long 11 games on Wednesday night.
TAMPA (March 20, 2024) – With a new-look lineup on Wednesday night, the University of South Florida Bulls (12-9) had to come from behind early and hold on late in a 9-6 triumph over the Florida A&M Rattlers (8-13) at USF Baseball Stadium.
The latest injury to hinder the South Florida roster was a knee injury sustained by Rafael Betancourt (Deltona) in Tuesday’s 3-2 loss at FGCU. He joins Bobby Boser (Wesley Chapel), who is out an indefinite period with a hand injury, on the shelf. The Bulls were also without the services of Joaquin Monque (Weston), who missed Tuesday’s game as well and will be out until Sunday.
The Rattlers claimed a 3-0 advantage in the third inning until the Bulls answered back with a three-run frame of their own in the bottom of the fourth. Stewart Puckett (DeLeon Springs) delivered a two-run single to spark the rally and Matthew Buffington (Andover, Kan.) knotted the score at 3-3 with an RBI-single.
Run-scoring doubles by Drew Brutcher (Lakeland) and Eric Snow (Forsyth, Ga.) padded the USF lead to 5-3 in the fifth frame.
The Bulls tacked on one more run in the seventh inning and three more big insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth, which proved crucial, as FAMU didn’t go down quietly in the ninth inning.
A one-out triple by Puckett in the bottom of the eighth preceded Buffington’s second run-scoring hit of the night and Jayden Ross (Tampa), who was making his first start of the season, drove in two more runs on a hustle-double to cap the inning.
The Rattlers loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the ninth in the 9-4 affair which prompted a pitching change to Chandler Dorsey (Lakeland) who eventually locked down his third save of the season.
Notable
- Jackson Mayo (St. Johns) went 1-for-3 with a pair of walks and extended his hitting streak to a career-best 11 games.
- Eight of the nine Bulls in the starting lineup recorded at least one hit with Buffington, Puckett, Ross and Ben Rozenblum (Coral Springs) finishing the night with two apiece.
- Puckett is batting .357 (10-for-28) since being inserted into the starting lineup (8 games) on March 9th.
- The Bulls recorded three stolen bases on Wednesday to raise their season total to 44 after tallying just 39 in the entire 2023 campaign.
- Lawson Gailey (Lavonia, Ga.) earned the win in his relief appearance. The right-hander struck out three and allowed one unearned run over 3.0 IP.
- Austin Newton (Tampa) and Kyle Scrape (Tampa) each tossed a scoreless inning out of the bullpen.
- Freshman Nick Rodriguez (Miami) made his first collegiate start for the short-handed Bulls on Wednesday night.
Up Next
The Bulls will continue their stretch of five games in six days with a three-game weekend series in Tampa to begin conference play against Memphis on Friday, March 22 6:30 p.m. Stay tuned to GoUSFBulls.com and the team’s social media accounts for any potential weather-related schedule changes.
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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