Bulls use hit parade to beat Army

Twelve South Florida batters combined for 20 hits in a 19-4 drumming of the Army Black Knights on Monday night.

The Bulls were led offensively by Scott Rachlin, who went 2-for-3 with three RBI. The game was scoreless after the first, but the Bulls scored multiple runs in every inning except the seventh. The Bulls’ last batting opportunity was highlighted by a 2-run home run from Travis Brown in the eighth.

“That was fun for me to watch our guys hit so well,” USF coach Eddie Cardieri said. “That’s how we think they can hit, and that’s not to say they’re going to get 20 hits every game, but the approaches at the plate were so good right up and down the lineup.”

Junior Ryan Gloger (2-1) got the win, going five innings and giving up four runs.

“Ryan Gloger was pretty good,” Cardieri said. “I thought that the long waits between innings could have affected him.”

Despite the lapses of time waiting between innings, Gloger said he was happy to have the lead to work with.

“In the third inning, I felt I must have sat in (the dugout) for a half an hour,” Gloger said. “I can’t complain though. It was great as far as the team giving me a ton of run support.”

Catcher Devin Ivany was 3-for-3 with the bat, adding two RBI and crossing the plate three times himself. He agreed with Gloger’s sentiment on the lapses of time between being on the field.

“It’s a good rhythm break,” Ivany said. “It’s the kind you like because when you have a big cushion like that, a lot of the team gets out there.”

The Bulls utilized four other pitchers in the game, each of whom contributed an inning’s work. Along with errorless fielding from the supporting cast, David Austen, Bubba Ingram, David Pringle and Joey Livingston combined for four strikeouts and allowed no Black Knight runners to reach base after Gloger.

“It was just a very solid game, and in a game like that I was impressed with the fact that we didn’t make any errors,” Cardieri said. “We didn’t get lackadaisical.”

  • Jarrett Guthrie covers baseball and can be reached at oracleguthrie@yahoo.com