TAMPA, APRIL 9, 2017 – After falling behind 4-2 in the top of the fifth, the University of South Florida baseball team responded with four runs in the bottom half to take a lead it wouldn’t relinquish, as it swept UCF in the first War on I-4 series of the season with Sunday’s 7-5 win.

 

Junior Kevin Merrell (Odessa, Fla.) led off the game with a solo shot to right and it looked as if the Bulls (27-5, 4-2 American) would have a nice afternoon in front of the home crowd.

 

But the Knights (23-10, 2-4 American) had no intention of going down easy, as they took a 2-1 lead with a two-out single to score men in scoring position in the top half of the third. The two sides exchanged runs in the fourth, then Rylan Thomas homered to right field in the fifth to make it 4-2.

 

But the USF bats came alive in the bottom half. Senior Luke Borders (Winter Haven, Fla.) led off with triple to right, then sophomore Joe Genord (Lake Worth, Fla.) drove him home with a double to left center. Three batters later, redshirt-junior Andres Leal (Tampa) singled to score Genord, then sophomore Cameron Montgomery (Windermere, Fla.) doubled to left, scoring two. Classmate Garrett Zech (Naples, Fla.) singled to bring home Montgomery, completing the four-run inning.

 

Each side plated one more across the next two innings, but junior reliever Joe Cavallaro (Venice, Fla.) was lights out to close the door and pick up a 3 1/3 inning save.

 

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Key Stats

 

· Three Bulls had three-hit outings. Zech went 3-for-4 with a run and a RBI, Merrell went 3-for-5 with a run and two RBI and Genord went 3-for-5 with a run and a RBI.

 

· In total, six USF hitters had multi-hit days, with Leal going 2-for-4 with two runs and a RBI, Borders going 2-for-5 with a run scored and junior Duke Stunkel Jr. (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) going 2-for-5.

 

· Cavallaro gave up just three hits in the 3.1 innings he pitched while striking out six.

 

Notables

 

· The 16 hits matched a season high for the Bulls. It marks the 19th time the Bulls clubbed double-digit hits and the 12th time the team recorded at least 13 hits this year.

 

· The Bulls are now 68-59 against UCF all time and 42-25 in Tampa.

 

· The USF sweep marks the first against an AAC opponent at home since March 27-29 of 2015, when the Bulls defeated Cincinnati in three straight. It was USF's first sweep in Tampa over the Knights since 1993 (two games) and the first series sweep of at least three games in Tampa since 1985.

 

· USF culminated the weekend with the third annual Cuts Vs. Cancer ceremony. The players and coaching staff shaved their heads after the game and together raised over $11,000 for the Vs. Cancer Foundation, supporting the fight against childhood cancer.

 

Bulls Complete War on I-4 Sweep of UCF, 7-5 - GoUSFBulls.com

Good weekend on campus.

 

Baseball sweeps UCF.

Softball sweeps ECU.

 

And at Rice...

 

Women's Tennis sweeps Houston.