Jack Jasiak tossed seven innings of two-hit shutout ball against the Pirates.
TAMPA (May 21, 2021) – Redshirt freshmen Jack Jasiak (Spring Hill) and Orion Kerkering (Venice) combined for a three-hit shutout of the No. 10-ranked East Carolina Pirates (38-12, 20-7 AAC) on Friday afternoon in a 7-0 victory for the USF Bulls (23-26, 13-14 AAC).
The duo’s effort stands as USF’s league-leading fifth shutout of the season.
Jasiak (5-7) allowed just two hits and struck out three over 7.0 IP to record his third straight win on the mound. The right-hander has turned in quality starts in three straight and now has 10 on the season.
The Bulls staked their starting pitcher to a 4-0 in the bottom of the first inning. A leadoff single by Carmine Lane (Lake Placid), and consecutive walks by Riley Hogan (Orlando) and Roberto Peña (Caracas, Venezuela) loaded the bases with no outs. Jake Sullivan (Tampa) broke the scoring seal with a sacrifice fly, and two batters later, with two outs, Daniel Cantu (Jacksonville) smashed a three-run homer through the wind in right-center field.
With the final out of the top of the first frame, Jasiak proceeded to retire 11 in a row through the top of the fifth as he was on cruise control against the potent Pirate offense.
USF tacked on one more run in the fifth, and plated two more in the seventh. Lane added an RBI-single in the seventh and Matt Ruiz (Hialeah) forced home a run with a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch.
Notable
- Jasiak & Kerkering combined to hold the NCAA hit leader (Connor Norby) to an 0-for-4 day and snapped his streak of reaching base safely in 56 consecutive games – the nation’s longest such streak this year.
- Jasiak logged his 14th career quality start in 18 career starts.
- Lane reached base five times, going 4-for-5 with a double – his third four-hit game of the season and 20th multi-hit effort.
Up Next
The Bulls will look to split the four-game series with ECU in Saturday’s regular season finale. USF will honor its seniors prior to first pitch which is set for 1 p.m. Following the series finale, the Bulls will travel to Clearwater for the start of the AAC postseason tournament beginning on Tuesday.
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 –
