USF Baseball Drops Elimination Game 6-1 Against Oklahoma State at DeLand Regional

USF baseball couldn’t figure out Oklahoma State pitcher Jonathan Heasley and their season came to an end yesterday at the DeLand Regional as they fell 6-1 to the Cowboys.

The Bulls (36-22-1) struck first in the second when a two-out double by OF Kyle Phillips set up a bunt from fellow OF Garrett Zech which Heasley fielded and made his only mistake of the day as he threw the ball away to allow Phillips to score. That was the last time a Bull touched third base all day.

In the bottom half of the second inning, USF RHP Collin Sullivan got into trouble with two outs. He allowed a lead-off single and retired the next two batters he faced then the inning fell apart.

A single and throwing error by Zech tied the game at one then Sullivan hit two consecutive Cowboys to load the bases then walked in a run before escaping the inning without any further damage.

Oklahoma State’s Trevor Boone added two two-run home runs in the sixth and eighth inning to put the game away for good.

Sullivan was not nearly as sharp as he was last week during the American Athletic Conference tournament. He had a very weird final stat line: 5 IP, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, and FOUR (4) HBP. The righty kept the Bulls in the game, but the bats could not figure out Heasley.

USF was 7-of-32 overall today, 2-for-10 with runners on base, and 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position. It was the theme of the weekend. Outside of the 11th inning against Hartford, the offense was stifled by less than stellar pitching.

Here are their numbers for the tournament (Season average in parenthesis)

• Overall Batting Average: 25-of-107, .233 (.299)
• Runners On Base: 10-for-44, .227 (.305)
• Bases Loaded: 1-for-5, .200 and 0-for-3 in game one vs. OKSt (.254)
• Runners In Scoring Position: 6-for-24, .250 (.303)

The Bulls had a very free-swinging approach against the breaking ball heavy Heasley and swung at anything close and any breaking pitches and it cost them.

Overall, this was a very successful first season under head coach Billy Mohl. He made a regional in his first year just like his boss before him and three regional appearances in four years is nothing to sneeze at after not having been to one in 13 years prior to 2015.

Yes, the athletic department still should’ve bid on a regional.

Notables:

• The 2015 recruiting class will likely have multiple names called in the 2018 MLB First Year Draft including: LHP Shane McClanahan, Closer Andrew Perez, 3B David Villar, 1B Joe Genord, OF Chris Chatfield, OF Garrett Zech, and maybe even SS Coco Montes. This group of guys turned around the program along with the 2015 team.

Tournament Numbers

• Chatfield : 4-for-11, HR, RBI, two runs, three BB, three K
• Montes: 4-for-12, two 2B, HR, RBI, four runs, two BB, two K
• Villar: 4-for-13, four RBI, one run, four K
• Duke Stunkel, Jr.: 2-for-14, two K, one BB
• Genord: 2-for-13, HR, run, three RBI, three K, one BB
• Kyle Phillips: 5-for-11, two 2B, RBI, run, two BB, K
• Zech and Tyler Dietrich combined: 3-for-19, six K, four BB.