Austin Grause pitched 3.2 shutout innings of relief in Friday’s 6-4 loss.
TAMPA (April 21, 2023) – Bobby Boser (Wesley Chapel) and Eric Snow (Forsyth, Ga.) each homered and accounted for all the Bulls’ run-production on Friday night, but it wasn’t enough as the University of South Florida (16-23, 5-5 AAC) fell to the UCF Knights (22-16, 4-6 AAC) at USF Baseball Stadium, 6-4.
Snow’s three-run blast in the bottom of the third inning erased a 2-0 deficit and gave Hunter Mink (Palm Harbor) a 3-2 advantage heading to the fourth frame.
UCF immediately tied the game with a solo home run to lead off the top of the fourth before command issues plagued H. Mink and the Knights reclaimed a 5-3 lead in the inning. H. Mink walked two and hit three more batters in the frame as UCF plated three total runs.
The Knights and Bulls traded solo homers in the sixth inning with Boser launching his ninth of the season to tie Daniel Cantu (Jacksonville) for the team lead and make it a 6-4 ballgame.
USF didn’t have an answer offensively for Najer Victor and Kyle Kramer over the final three innings as the duo tallied eight strikeouts in relief.
Austin Grause (Tampa) also turned in a solid relief outing for the Bulls. The right-hander kept USF in the game with a career-high six strikeouts over 3.2 shutout frames.
Notable
- USF pitching combined for six walks and four hit batters while UCF’s pitchers did not surrender a free pass on Friday night.
- Snow is batting .355 with all six of his home runs and 26 of his 28 RBI at home this season.
- Boser is batting .391 (9-for-23) with a double, six homers and nine RBI over his last six games.
Up Next
The Bulls and Knights continue their three-game weekend series on Saturday, April 22 at 2 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 –
