Groves, Ellis lead Bulls into classic

The University of South Florida softball team heads to Gainesville today for the GRU Classic, one week after taking three games at home to begin the regular season.The Bulls will face Florida, Missouri, Tennessee-Chattanooga, Arkansas and Appalachian State in the five-game round-robin tournament that runs through Sunday.

In the opening weekend, seniors Holly Groves and Leigh Ann Ellis led the Bulls.

Groves, who led the Bulls in home runs last year, hit three home runs in the first four games, including two grand slams, one of which sparked a late rally against Bethune Cookman. She hit .462 and notched 12 RBIs to go along with a 1.231 slugging percentage.

Ellis, who set a school record last season for wins, picked up all three victories for the Bulls, including a 3-hit shutout against Florida Atlantic.

However, with the exception of Ellis, the Bulls’ other pitchers struggled in the opening weekend. Freshman Kasey Cash struggled in her collegiate debut and finished the weekend with a 14.73 ERA after allowing 11 hits and six earned runs in 3.2 innings. Fellow freshman Danielle Urbanik also struggled on the mound, finishing the weekend with a 9.00 ERA.

The Bulls will need some better production this weekend from the freshman pitching duo in order to pick up some victories.

Track team heads to North Carolina

The University of South Florida women’s indoor track and field team heads to the University of North Carolina this weekend for the Tar Heel Challenge.

Senior Alexis McGaffagan is coming off her best outing of the season. McGaffagan set new school records in the high jump and pentathlon last week, while also qualifying provisionally for the NCAA Championships in the pentathlon.