Freshman Matt Ruiz ranks second in the nation in hits.
TAMPA (March 3, 2021) – The USF Bulls (4-3) are riding a four-game winning streak and have vaulted up the NCAA national rankings in multiple team and individual statistical categories. Headlining those leaderboards is freshman Matt Ruiz (Hialeah) who ranks second in the nation in hits (17).
Ruiz batted .563 (9-16) last weekend with a homer, four doubles and four RBI. Drew Brutcher (Lakeland) hit .467 (7-15) with a homer, two doubles, two RBI and three walks. Riley Hogan (Orlando) batted .400 (6-15) with 11 RBI. Hogan blasted a trio of three-runs homers, on consecutive days, and had a walk-off double in the series finale to complete a four-game sweep of FAMU.
Collectively, USF hit .338 and slugged over .600 with 10 doubles, two triples and seven home runs in the four-game series.
Jack Jasiak (Springhill) won the series opener by posting his first career complete game. The redshirt freshman allowed one run on just two hits (career low) and struck out nine batters over 7.0 IP for his first win of the year.
NCAA National RankingsMatt Ruiz
- Hits (17) – 2nd
- Doubles (5) – 5th
- Total Bases (27) – 6th
- Batting Average (.531) – 18th
Jack Jasiak
- Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio (14.00) – 12th
Riley Hogan
- RBI (12) – 15th
- Homers (3) – 16th
Drew Brutcher
- On Base Percentage (.600) – 28th
USF Team Rankings
- Hits (79) – 14th
- Batting Average (.316) – 23rd
- Slugging (.484) – 27th
- Runs (51) – 39th
- Runs/Game (7.3) – 50th
The Bulls open a three-game series with Stetson University on Friday, March 5. USF will play single games in Deland on Friday and Saturday before returning to Tampa to close the series with Stetson on Sunday.
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 –
