No. 31 Men’s Tennis beats Duke, loses to no. 2 Gators in NCAA Tournament

Earlier in the week USF found out they would head to Gainesville for the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. They joined women’s basketball and women’s soccer in winning their first round match-up while losing to a top ten team in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

On Friday, USF opened vs. no. 32 Duke and took the doubles point by winning on all courts. Juniors Antonio Muniz and Chase Ferguson both won in straight sets to take a 3-1 lead, and senior Pierre Luquet completed the victory by beating Luca Keist in three sets.

On Sunday, the Bulls started the day in a similar fashion by winning the doubles point. This time, rallying after losing on court one and needing an extra set to secure the point. Unfortunately, that was the only point USF would win as the second-ranked Gators were too much in singles play winning all matches in straight sets. This was a surprisingly similar result to the early season match-up between these programs which saw USF win the doubles point and lose all single points in January.

Ashley Fisher’s squad finishes 17-10 and conference tournament runner-up in his fifth season. They made it to the second round in the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four years.

Softball loses 3 of 4 in Oviedo, secures no. 2 seed in AAC Tournament

USF headed east for a War-on-I-4 four-game series needing three wins to secure the regular season championship, but came up short winning only the opener on Friday. This was the first conference series loss for the Bulls this season.

Junior pitcher Georgina Corrick went 1-1 on the weekend shutting out the G. Knights on Friday going the distance and striking out five in a 2-0 victory and giving up two runs in a walk-off 4-3 loss in game 1 on Saturday afternoon. Corrick recorded only one strikeout in 6.1 innings pitched as the C. offense won on a sacrifice bunt. The Bulls took a 3-2 lead in the fifth on an RBI single and wild pitch, but ultimately could not get the final two outs.

The second game of the doubleheader saw the Bulls losing in run-rule fashion 9-1 in 5 innings. The pitching combo of freshman Vivian Ponn, Lexie Kopko, and sophomore Camryn Dolby surrendered nine runs on 12 hits and four walks with zero strikeouts. One positive is senior AnaMarie Bruni broke the USF single-season record for stolen bases swiping her 34th on the year in the second game of the doubleheader

The final game saw the Bulls losing 2-0 on Mother’s Day only giving up a two-run homer in the second inning, but only collecting three hits on the afternoon.

USF ends their regular season with a 28-16 (16-7) record and will be the two-seed in the AAC Conference Tournament in Tulsa starting on Thursday. In 2019 the Bulls were awarded the automatic-bid as the no. 1 seed when inclement weather canceled the majority of the tournament. No tournament champion was technically awarded. The Bulls lost to Tulsa in the final in 2018.

Baseball takes 3 of 4 in dual-doubleheaders at Memphis

The bats definitely came alive this past weekend in Memphis as the Bulls scored 23 runs across four games to pull their conference record to .500 against last place Memphis.

Senior Dylan Burns started game 1 on Friday striking out ten in seven innings pitched and giving up two runs, but the Bulls bats squandered a bases loaded first inning - only scoring one - to drop the game 3-1. USF only collected four hits as Burns suffered the loss in a quality start.

Game 2 the fireworks started. Freshman Jack Jasiak pitched a gem going just over seven innings, striking out four, and giving up only one run in a 9-2 victory. The Bulls again scored a run in the first inning while giving up two in the home-half, but this time kept the pressure on. USF scored two runs in the second, third, and eighth innings on 12 hits. Redshirt freshman Carmine Lane went 3-5 on the evening with three RBI and a homerun.

USF swept the Saturday doubleheader as the bats stayed hot winning by scores of 7-4 in 10 innings and 6-5. Freshman Matt Ruiz and sophomore Nick Gonzalez homered in the afternoon tilt, with Gonzalez’s coming in the 10th to seal the victory. Senior Collin Sullivan struck out 13 Tigers in six innings only giving up two runs in the start.

In the night game, senior Logan Lyle was awarded the victory in relief as Lyle, starter sophomore Brad Lord, and redshirt freshman Tanner Mink combined for three earned runs on eight hits and eight strikeouts. USF scored six runs in the first four innings, but the Tigers didn’t go quietly nearly tying the game in the ninth. Mink struck out the final Tiger looking to end the game.

USF (20-22, 10-10) will head to Wichita St. (25-18, 13-10) for a four game series this weekend.

Men’s Golf Heads to Indiana for NCAA Tournament

The five-time AAC Champs are taking their talents to the Noblesville, Indiana Regional hosted by Ball State as a six seed. The Bulls eighth consecutive NCAA regional will be held at The Sagamore Club May 17-19. The other programs involved in the regional include Texas, North Carolina, Tennessee, North Florida, Louisville, UAB, Duke, UNC-Wilmington, Arkansas State, Campbell, UT-Martin, and Loyola Chicago. The lowest five scores in each regional will advance to the NCAA Championship in Scottsdale, AZ.