| R | H | E | |
| Florida A&M (4-7) | 0 | 6 | 4 |
| USF (3-5) | 5 | 8 | 2 |
WP: Fontanez (1-1) LP: Jones (0-2)
On a chilly Friday night in Tampa, a crowd of 1445 watched Sr. Randy Fontanez pitch 8 brilliant innings as USF earned its first shutout at the new Red McEwen Field, defeating Florida A&M 5-0.
Fontanez (1-1) gave up 5 hits and struck out 8 Rattlers on only 84 pitches, and brought his ERA down to 2.75 with his effort tonight. Jimmy Moran entered the game in the 9th was able to keep the Rattlers off the scoreboard.
Offensively, the Bulls were led by leadoff man Jonathan Koscso, who went 3-5 for the night and scored two runs. Sam Mende went 1-2 with 2 walks and 2 RBIs. Junior Carlin went 1-4 with an RBI triple, and scored on a Mende sacrifice fly. Even Fontanez got into the act, going 1-2 after Daniel Rockhold was injured, and even stole a base on the night.
USF took advantage on the battery of Tim Jones (0-2) and Cory Frankin, as USF stole 6 bases on the night. Even with being able to run at will, the Bulls were only able to plate 5 batters and left 12 batters on base. You could hear Coach Prado's frustration after the game about not putting this game away earlier, but a win is a win at this point.
The Bulls will play a doubleheader tomorrow with Fr. Nick Gonzalez getting the ball in Game 1, and Sr. Nick Eastham will get his first start of the year in Game 2. Andrew Barbosa will be rested this weekend after leaving his last start against Elon with some stiffness in his forearm. First pitch will be at 4 PM.
- Also, if you don't have tickets already for the Florida game, season ticket holders and Bulls Club donors can purchase them at Ticketmaster.com. If you aren't a donor or season ticket holder, they will be open to the public on March 8th at 8AM. Tickets are only $6.00, so I would expect a large crowd at the New Red Wednesday. Make sure to wear green.