Both the USF baseball and softball teams were rained out Wednesday.

The baseball team was scheduled to play against North Florida in Jacksonville, but the game was canceled mid-afternoon due to rain. The softball team never even boarded the bus for its game against No. 5 Florida due to approaching inclement weather in Gainesville.

Make-up dates for both games have not been announced.

Softball to host Syracuse

The USF softball team will host its first Big East series in the new stadium, a three-game series this weekend against Syracuse. USF (19-15, 1-0) won its only previous Big East game last weekend and hopes to carry the momentum into Saturday’s doubleheader at 1 p.m. and the final game Sunday at 3 p.m.

South Florida was scheduled to play a three-game series against St. Johns last weekend in New York, but due to inclement weather and unplayable field conditions the teams only managed to get one game in. USF defeated St. Johns 10-2 in five innings.

“I feel like we’re getting better and that’s the most important thing,” coach Ken Eriksen said. “We’re doing OK with the strength of schedule we have, but we’ve got to get better.”

Syracuse comes to Tampa as one of the hottest teams in the conference. The Orange (24-5, 3-0) is currently on an eight-game win streak – including a sweep of Rutgers during the opening weekend of Big East play – but has played a much weaker schedule than the Bulls.

Syracuse has played four games against ranked opponents, compared to 10 for USF.

Baseball in Pennsylvania

After dropping the West Virginia series at home to open Big East play, the USF baseball team (10-14, 1-2) will look to rebound with a three-game set against Villanova in Plymouth Meeting, Pa.

The Bulls went 5-7 in Big East road games last year. Villanova (11-13, 1-2) was picked 10th in the preseason Big East coaches poll and lost its opening Big East series to Seton Hall.

The Wildcats bullpen pitched 8.1 scoreless innings in their Big East opener, a 4-3 win in a 14-inning game that was decided by a bunt single squeeze play.

Because Villanova Ballpark does not have field lights, all three games are scheduled for afternoon starts. Friday’s game will be played at 3:15, Saturday’s at 1:15 and Sunday’s series finale at 12:15.