USF Athletics Weekend Roundup

Baseball sweeps Niagara in dominate fashion

USF saw contributors from all over the lineup and on the mound over the weekend in a three-game sweep that saw the Bulls outscore the Purple Eagles 27-8. Orion Kerkering continued to supplant himself in the starting rotation going seven innings giving up one earned run and striking out eight in a 9-4 victory on Friday. The Bulls opened up with three runs off three hits in the first and never looked back. Carmine Lane and Jackson Mayo both homered in the game and Drew Brutcher went 3-5 with a run. Saturday saw much of the same with Jack Jasiak earning his second victory going five innings, striking out two, and only allowing one base runner. The Bulls again started the offense early as Roberto Pena hit a two-run homerun - his fifth of the season - in the opening frame of the 7-1 win. Nick Gonzalez went 2-4 on the day as the Bulls scored seven runs on just eight hits. On Sunday, USF completed the sweep with an 11-3 victory again scoring a run in the opening frame on a sacrifice fly. A five-run fourth put the game out of reach and Daniel Cantu slugged his third homerun of the season in the fifth. Brad Lord got the start going four innings and striking out six while allowing only one hit.

The Bulls are on a five game winning streak and have won ten of their last 12. They’ve only scored less than three runs once all season.

USF (17-7) hosts Bethune-Cookman on Tuesday before heading to Oviedo to open conference play for a three game series this weekend with C.

No. 54 Men’s Tennis goes 1-1 over the weekend, secures win on Senior Day.

On Friday, USF fell to no. 54 VCU 4-3 in a competition that went down to the final match. The Bulls took the doubles point as the ninth ranked doubles team in the nation of Rithvik Bollipalli and Bruno Oliveira took the final court on a tiebreaker after Sergio Gomez Montesa and Alvin Tudorica won their match-up 6-3. VCU fired back winning the next two points before Tudorica evened the score with his singles victory and Tom Pisane put the Bulls back on top. Unfortunately, losses on the final two courts by Montesa and Ferguson led to the loss.

On Sunday, the Bulls got back to their winning ways beating no. 50 Cornell 4-2 on Senior Day. USF won the doubles point despite Bollipalli and Oliveira losing their court and USF closed out the Ivy League program with wins from Tudorcia (his 11th straight), Muniz, and Ferguson.

USF (9-9) will head to New Orleans to face Tulane on Friday.

Women’s Tennis defeats Houston 4-2

USF upset Houston at home on Friday securing the doubles point after the first two courts were split. The Bulls then had singles victories from freshman Kiana Mokhtari (by default), and junior Laura Pellicer and freshman Grace Schumacher in straight sets. Freshman Sierra Berry was leading her 6-1 before the game was called due to the victory.

USF (5-11) will host Rice on Friday and FIU on Sunday.

Softball swept by C. at home.

What looked to be a great conference opening weekend between the American’s top teams in the standings, turned into C. extending their win streak to 18 games. Georgina Corrick pitched the opening and closing games enduring her first back-to-back losses of the season. On Friday, the Bulls jumped out to a two run lead in part to Corrick’s second homerun of the season, but the bats went silent over the final five frames as the G. Knights scored five in the final three innings. Corrick pitched a complete game giving up all five runs and striking out 11. On Saturday, the combination of Erin Peopping, Lexie Kopko, and Antoinette Hill combined giving up three earned runs on nine hits, but four USF errors added another four runs for C. The offense continued their struggles in the 7-2 defeat. On Sunday, Corrick started in the circle again, this time only giving up three runs (two homeruns) on three hits and striking out eight. However, the offense was one-hit at the hands of Gianna Macha who also struck out ten Bulls. Alexis Johns continued her tear on the basepaths stealing four bags across the series.

The Bulls have lost six of their last ten since their 14-game winning streak was snapped earlier this month - including three games in which Corrick has pitched. In those three losses the offense has only manufactured three runs. And one of those runs was a home run by Corrick.

USF will head to Greenville to continue conference play vs. ECU this weekend looking to right the ship.