Freshman Eric Snow went 3-for-3 with his fifth homer of the year in Saturday’s 5-3 victory.
TAMPA (April 8, 2023) – True freshmen Rafael Betancourt (Deltona) and Eric Snow (Forsyth, Ga.) each recorded three hits on Saturday afternoon as the University of South Florida Bulls (14-19, 4-2 AAC) won their second straight game against the Tulane Green Wave (9-23, 3-3 AAC).
South Florida has won each of its first two conference series and is tied atop the AAC standings.
“We struggled to put together series wins early in the season, but we talked about the conference slate being a new season. We’ve won two straight now and want to keep that rolling,” said head coach Billy Mohl. “We didn’t capitalize on our offensive opportunities in Thursday’s loss, but did a much better job over the final two games of the series. I thought our starting pitcher was solid this weekend and did a great job of preserving our bullpen. Especially Ethan Brown on Thursday. He got out to a shaky start, but battled for us and was able to eat up innings after he settled in. That was really big, and now our bullpen is fresh heading into next week.”
Snow went 3-for-3 on Saturday with a homer, two walks, two RBI and three runs scored. The freshman ranks second on the team in RBI (24) and third in home runs (5).
Jack Cebert (Tampa) turned in his third quality start of the season and matched his longest career outing with 7.0 IP. The right-hander allowed one run on four hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.
Three of the Bulls’ five runs on the day came via two-out hits, including Snow’s two-run blast in the sixth inning which extended the USF lead to 5-1.
Travis Sankovich (Uniontown, Pa.) gave Cebert and the Bulls an early 1-0 lead with a two-out single in the bottom of the first inning. Drew Brutcher (Lakeland) made it a 2-0 ballgame with a run-scoring single in the fourth inning and Bobby Boser (Wesley Chapel) drove in another run in the fifth frame to stretch the lead to 3-0.
Tulane got on the board in the top of the sixth inning with a solo homer before Snow’s home run in the bottom of the frame. The Green Wave added a single tally in both the eighth and ninth innings, but Riley Skeen (Pompano Beach) finished the job on the mound for his fifth save of the season.
Notable
- USF has won each of its first two conference series for the first time since 2018.
- The win also marked the Bulls’ first series win over Tulane since 2018.
- Cebert, Ethan Brown (Winter Garden) and Hunter Mink (Palm Harbor) combined for 19.1 IP in their starts over the weekend series.
- Daniel Cantu (Jacksonville) has reached base in a season-high 15 consecutive games. Cantu is batting .410 (16-for-39) with a .521 OBP, eight doubles, three homers and 17 RBI over his last 10 games.
- Snow is batting .439 (18-for-41) with three homers and 10 RBI over his last 10 games.
Up Next
The Bulls wrap up their five-game homestand on Tuesday, April 11 against Bethune-Cookman at 6 p.m. Following that midweek tilt, USF travels to Houston to continue conference play on April 14-16.
About USF Baseball
The USF Baseball program played its first season in 1966 and is entering its 58th season in 2023 under head coach Billy Mohl (sixth 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 18 have earned Freshman All-America accolades, most recently Drew Brutcher and Carmine Lane in 2021. 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.
– #GoBulls –
