USF Softball Drops Final Regular Season Series To Houston

USF softball ended the regular season with a two-game losing skid after dropping the series finale 4-3 to the Houston Cougars on Sunday afternoon.

USF (32-23, 9-8 American) trailed 4-1 through five innings, but rallied in the sixth after using three straight bunt singles to load the bases. A sacrifice fly by Bethaney Keen and a few wild pitches would pull the Bulls within a run.

The Bulls tied the game in the top of the seventh after a two-out RBI double from Astin Donovan and kept the game alive through three extra innings. But a walk-off base hit in the bottom of the tenth gave Houston (28-24, 12-6 American) the victory.

Saturday, the Bulls had a season-high six-game winning streak snapped with a 3-1 loss to the Cougars. Susan Wysocki was the lone bright spot for USF on this day after throwing 3.1 hitless innings of relief.

The final two games of the series were even more disappointing after the Bulls shut out the Cougars 3-0 on Friday night. Seven of the nine USF starters recorded at least one hit in the game, with Astin Donovan and Lindsey Devitt each picking up a pair. Solid pitching by Cheyenne Eggens and Hannah Parker led the way for the Bulls.

USF will need that steady hitting and stellar pitching to return to get through the American Conference Tournament in Greenville, NC, beginning bright and early Thursday morning. USF enters the tournament as the No. 4 seed and will face the No. 5 seed Memphis Tigers at 11:00 a.m. Thursday. Here is a look at the complete American Softball Championship bracket: