The Weekend Wrap-Up: 2/28 - 3/2 Edition

Friday, February 28th

Baseball

-The Bulls suffered their first loss of the year at the hands of Columbia by a score of 1-0. The lone run came in the first inning for Columbia. Jordan Serena got a lead off single, stole second, then scored on an RBI single. The Bulls had a chance to get off to the best start in school history if they completed the four game sweep of Columbia, but couldn't grab game one.

Softball

-Beat #14 Stanford 3-2 and Central Arkansas 10-1 in day one of the Under Armor Invitational.  All the scoring for the Bulls in the Stanford game came in the fifth inning thanks to an error and a two-run single coming with two-outs. Sara Nevins picked up her sixth win, going 5.2 innings and giving up one run off four hits and four walks. Erica Nunn improved to 3-3 on the year with a win over Central Arkansas. That game only last five innings, with Central Arkansas putting up little fight- getting only one hit. The Bulls overall record improved to 10-5 after these two wins.

Track & Field

-The Track team was up in New York this weekend competing in the American Athletic Conference Indoor Championship. Junior Rachael Klinger led the Bulls in day one with a second place finish in the women's pentathlon. After the first day the women's team was tied for eight place with Rutgers and the men's team was in seventh.

Saturday, March 1st

Baseball

-The Bulls played a doubleheader against Columbia and lost the first game 6-4, but won the second 13-5. Their record now stands at 8-2. Michael Farley came in in the ninth inning of game one to a tie game at 4-4, then proceeded to give up three hits and allow the winning run home plus one. The Bulls finally decided they had enough of losing to Columbia in game two (three on the weekend). The offense exploded for eight runs in the fourth inning and finished with 12 hits. All five of Columbia's runs were unearned.

Men's Basketball

-Lost to Rutgers in trademark USF fashion, 74-73. Read more here.

Men's Soccer

-USF played host to the Tampa Bay Rowdies in an offseason/preseason (depending on which team's perspective you take) friendly, ending in a 2-2 draw. This is the Bulls' annual "fundraising" game that draws a fair amount of interest due to the Rowdies's involvement. I would say a rough estimate would be about 3,000 in attendance- a significantly larger crowd than the women's basketball team drew on their senior day (happening at the same time). There were some dramatics in the second half, as USF tied it 1-1 in the 69th minute thanks to a penalty then took the lead in 71st minute with a Wesley Charpie goal. The lead didn't last long though, as the Rowdies reinstated the tie 5 minutes later with a goal by Evans Frimpong. I always find this game interesting because USF plays the Rowdies tight and could easily win. If anyone doubted USF's ability to play some quality soccer (football) they have been putting those naysayers to rest so far in 2014 thanks to a great showing against the Rowdies as well as beating the New York Red Bulls about a month ago. Not to mention making their seventh straight NCAA Tournament appearance last year.

Men's Tennis

-The #45 men's tennis team came ever so close to beating #36 FSU, losing 4-3. The Bulls won the doubles 2-1 and won the first singles match, but then dropped the next three. They bounced back to win the fifth, meaning whoever won the sixth game would win the meet. Federico Sabogal couldn't finish it off for the Bulls though in the end.

Softball

-Under Armor Invitational continued with a change of venue, as they moved out to Clearwater for the day. The change of venue did not throw the Bulls at all as they absolutely dominated St. Bonaventure and Loyola Marymount, winning both games by a combined 18-0 (8-0 over St. Bonaventure and 10-0 over Loyola Marymount) and giving up only a combined five hits. USF's record improved to 12-5 after the slaughter ended.

Track & Field

-The American Athletic Conference Indoor Championships continued on Saturday. Senior Courtney Anderson had a strong showing in the long jump, finishing second, and senior Marqueshia Stallworth finished third in the triple jump. Those were the best performances put in by the women's team enroute to an eighth place finish as a team with 31 points- SMU finished first with 118.5 points. Derrick Hopkins and Giscard Petion both finished third in their events- 200m and high jump, respectively. Shane Lewis and Matthew O'Neal finished second and third, respectively, in the triple jump. The men's team finished fifth with 71 points- UConn finished first with 158 points.

Women's Basketball

-Seniors Inga Orekhova and Akila McDonald both were let known how much fans appreciated their service, as each received well deserved rounds of applause on their senior day. The Bulls then took care of business and beat SMU 72-51. Read more here.

Women's Tennis

-The Bulls flew out to California to take on the University of San Diego on Saturday and won 4-2. The doubles matches were skipped due to heavy rain in California over the past few days, so the meet was judged on singles play only. USF won the first two matches, then dropped the next two, before rallying back to win the final two and seal the victory.

Sunday, March 2nd

Baseball

-The last game of the four game series against Columbia ending in USF's favor, with a 7-2 win. The Bulls move to 9-2 overall and escaped the four game series against Columbia with a split.

Men's Golf

-The first day of the USF invitational was Sunday. The invitational boasts a field of 17 schools, including #7 Illinois, #20 FSU, and #23 Auburn. #28 USF finished the first day with an under 7 par score. Follow all the results on Monday here.

Softball

-Final day of Under Armor Invitational saw the Bulls playing Villanova and Maine. The Bulls won out in the tournament by winning the two games by a combined 16-2 (8-0 over Villanova and 8-2 over Maine). The Under Armor Invitational treated the Bulls well, as they improved their record to 14-5.