Drew Brutcher’s 32nd career homer was a go-ahead blast, but the Pirates came from behind on Thursday night for an 8-3 win.
TAMPA (May 18, 2023) – The University of South Florida Bulls (19-35, 7-15 AAC) raced out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning on Friday night against No. 15 ECU (39-15, 16-6 AAC), but the Pirates erased that deficit and prevailed with an 8-3 victory on the road at USF Baseball Stadium.
Drew Brutcher (Lakeland) staked South Florida to a two-run lead in the bottom of the first inning with his 32nd career home run and Joaquin Monque (Weston) added a sac fly to give the Bulls a 3-0 lead in the opening frame.
ECU plated three runs in the top of the fourth inning to knot the score and added a tally in the fifth to take a 4-3 advantage. The Pirates stretched their lead to 6-3 in the top of the eighth, but eventually busted the game open with four total runs in the frame after a costly two-out USF error led to three unearned runs and an 8-3 ECU lead.
The Bulls got to ECU starting pitcher Zach Root for all three runs before Danny Beal entered from the bullpen to silence the USF bats. Beal scattered three hits over 6.1 shutout innings with six strikeouts.
Jack Cebert (Tampa) was charged with the loss after allowing four runs on seven hits over 4.1 IP. The right-hander cruised through the ECU lineup the first time around, allowing just one hit over three innings before the Pirates got to him in the fourth frame.
Notable
- Brutcher’s 32 home runs rank seventh all-time in USF program history. He is two away from a share of sixth place on the career list.
- Bobby Boser (Wesley Chapel) went 2-for-5 on the night to extend his career-high hitting (12) and on-base streaks (16).
- Boser is batting .372 with a .465 OBP during conference play this season.
Up Next
The Bulls and Pirates meet again on Friday evening at 5 p.m. in Tampa.
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 –
