Carmine Lane hit a walk-off homer in the ninth for an 8-7 win on Sunday afternoon.
TAMPA (March 13, 2022) – The University of South Florida Bulls (10-6) overcame a three-run deficit on Sunday afternoon in the finale of a three-game set against Bradley University (4-8) and walked off with an 8-7 win on a two-out home run by Carmine Lane (Lake Placid) in the ninth inning to claim the series victory.
The Bulls found themselves in a 7-4 hole heading to the bottom of the eighth inning before putting together a late rally. Bradley opened the door for South Florida when Jarrett Eaton (Mobile, Ala.) reached to on an error to lead off the inning. Sonny Rao (Orlando) followed with a walk and Lane promptly delivered an RBI-double. Two batters later, Ben Rozenblum (Coral Springs) tied the game with a two-run single to left field.
Hunter Mink (Palm Harbor) turned in another scoreless relief outing for USF in the top of the ninth to set up a chance for the home team to end the ballgame in the bottom of the frame. With two outs, Lane blasted a 3-1 pitch beyond the left field wall for the walk-off win.
The Bulls struck first in the series finale with four runs in the second inning that saw Drew Brutcher (Lakeland) break the scoring seal with a two-run single.
On the mound, Dylan Vega (Pembroke Pines) was cruising with a 4-0 advantage and faced the minimum over the first three innings. The freshman right-hander ran into trouble though in the fourth inning, and had some bad luck, as the Braves quickly knotted the score their second time through the batting order.
Bradley loaded the bases with no outs before Vega struck out the next batter he faced. The Braves then tallied a sacrifice fly for their first run of the game and the second out of the fourth inning. The next batter grounded a ball down the right field line that clipped the first base bag, redirected into foul territory and cleared the bases for a two-run triple before Vega was able to escape the inning two batters late with the score tied at 4-4.
The Braves proceeded to tack one single runs in each of the next three frames to build their lead to 7-4 before the Bulls late comeback began.
H. Mink (1-0) earned his first win of the season and tossed his 10th consecutive scoreless inning. Caleb Pundsack (Groveland) turned in a scoreless inning of work from the bullpen and Tanner Mink (Palm Harbor) worked 1.1 IP and allowed one unearned run as the bullpen did its job to keep the game within striking distance.
Notable
Lane’s walk-off hit was the first since Daniel Cantu (Jacksonville) delivered a walk-off home run in a series clinching win over FAU on March 21, 2021.
The Bulls have now won each of their first three three-game series this season. USF only won four total series last year and didn’t record its 10th win of the season until March 30th.
Brutcher, Cantu and Lane each extended their streak of reaching base safely on Sunday to 16 straight games to begin the season.
Lane tallied his team-leading seventh multi-RBI game on Sunday and leads USF with 21 RBI this year.
Up Next
After completing an eight-game homestand, including their second straight and final stretch of five games in one week, the Bulls will travel to FIU on Tuesday for a single game before returning to USF Baseball Stadium for a three-game weekend series against Mercer. First pitch between FIU and USF in Miami is set for 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 15.
For tickets, please visit usfbullstix.com or call 1-800-Go-Bulls.
About USF Baseball
The USF Baseball program played its first season in 1966 and is entering its 57th season in 2022. Head coach Billy Mohl is entering his fifth season at the helm. 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 players were selected in the 2018 MLB Draft, including the program’s fourth first-round selection in pitcher Shane McClanahan, who made his Major League debut with the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2020 World Series and was the Rays’ postseason game one starter in 2021.
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