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The Bulls pick up four wins at USF-Rawlings Invitational

ORACLE PHOTO/JOSÉE WOBLE

USF softball won four of five games in the USF-Rawlings Invitational this weekend. The team picked up two wins Friday, one on Saturday and one on Sunday to close out the near-perfect weekend.

In their final game of the weekend against Texas State, the Bulls had an explosive third inning. With two outs and two runners on, junior AnaMarie Bruni hit her first career homer to right-center field to put the Bulls ahead 3-0.

“I’m just happy that we had runners that got on with their at-bats to give us the go ahead, not just getting one run,” Bruni said. “It was a great feeling.”

Junior Georgina Corrick started in the circle, pitching 5.2 innings and giving up just three hits.

“Corrick gave us enough opportunities to get a pretty good situation going on,” coach Ken Eriksen said. “George gave us a great shot.”

Senior Cheyenne Eggens closed out the game, earning the save after registering two strikeouts in the seventh inning, leading the Bulls to their fourth and final win of the weekend.

The Bulls (8-7) opened up the invitational with a Friday sweep. In their first game of the weekend against Virginia Tech (12-2), a two-run in-the-park homer from Virginia Tech’s Darby Trull in the top of the third inning put USF behind early. The Hokies did not cross home plate again. USF responded with an explosive fourth inning surge in which they scored six runs.

Just 45 minutes after their 7-2 win, the Bulls went on to face Georgia State.

Senior Nicole Doyle pitched all seven innings of the evening – including the final two against Virginia Tech – and surrendered just one hit against the Panthers, setting USF up for a Friday sweep.

They did just that.

Lindsey Devitt, Bethany Keen, Macy Cook and Megan Pierro each registered one RBI to help lead the Bulls to a 4-0 victory against the Panthers.

USF split two games on Saturday in its second day of the invitational. The team opened the day with a win against Georgia State and closed it with a loss against Texas State (7-7).

The scoring started early for the Bulls against Georgia State. Bruni led off the bottom of the first inning with a walk, then stole second and third bases and later scored thanks to an RBI from Keen. Registering five more runs, the Bulls defeated the Bobcats 6-2.

In the second game of the day Saturday, the Bulls faced Texas State with a scoreless first three innings. The Bobcats took a 4-0 lead with a pair of two-run homers. USF responded with back-to-back doubles from Devitt and junior Kelsey Lay, putting them on the board with one run.

The Bulls added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning but that would be the end of scoring in a close 4-3 loss against the Bobcats.

Pitching and hitting were a driving force behind the near-perfect weekend for the Bulls. The team scored a total of 23 runs while only surrendering eight.

“The pitching did a really good job at keeping us in the ball game,” Eriksen said. “I think we maybe had one or two innings that were a little awry, but go through 35 innings and have two innings that were not as good as you want, that’s not too bad. that’s not bad stuff.”

Up next, USF will face FGCU (7-5) in a doubleheader at home on Wednesday. First pitch is set for 5 p.m.