After the USF baseball team won convincingly in the first two games of a weekend series with Saint Louis, the Bulls won a competitive game 11-6 at Red McEwen Field on Sunday. With the wind blowing out to left field, sophomore Matt McHargue hit three home runs and had six RBIs on the day.

“It’s good that Matt McHargue showed up,” USF coach Eddie Cardieri said.

When McHargue came up in the seventh with the game tied 5-5, he had already homered twice. With two runners on, he smacked a pitch up and over the left-center field wall.

“I’m seeing the ball good,” McHargue said. “The wind was blowing out, and I got lucky and got some balls up in that wind.”

McHargue’s three home runs tied a single-game school record, and it was a first-time feat for the left-handed sophomore. The record has been accomplished by only four others: Joe Perna in 1980, Todd Waggoner in 1984, Rich Bruney in 1993 and Chris Heintz in 1996. McHargue said he has hit two homers in one game on three other occasions.

After he sat out of the mid-week game with a pulled hamstring, McHargue said he was anxious to get back on the field this weekend but said that his leg isn’t completely healed.

“It’s getting there,” he said. “I want to say it’s about 75-80 percent.”

McHargue now leads all USF hitters with eight home runs on the year.

“Matt is a good hitter and he is one of our team leaders in several different categories,” Cardieri said. “The leg is feeling better and he had a great day and I’m glad for him and I’m glad for our team that he had a great day. I’m very happy with the fact that we swept them.”

In the eighth, USF tacked on three more runs to close out scoring. Mike Macaluso and Bryan Hierlmeier both doubled and Brian Baisley, Myron Leslie and Devin Ivany all singled in the inning.

Matt Ingram came in relief for freshman Chase Lirette in the seventh and left with the lead, garnering Ingram his first win of the season.

Friday’s game was in doubt for most of the game but the Bulls managed a 6-2 win. Baisley had three RBIs, going 2-3 at the plate.

Outfielder Jeremy Bellotti drove in two runs to give the Bulls a two-run lead in the second inning.

Casey Hudspeth (5-1) struck out a career-high nine, allowing two runs on five hits in seven innings in his sixth appearance without a loss.

On Saturday, Kyle Schmidt earned his fifth straight win in USF’s 18-1 bashing of the Billikens. The junior gave up no runs on four hits while striking out three in six innings of action. USF punished Saint Louis at the plate scoring 10 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take an 18-0 lead.

After the Billikens could only manage one run in the top of the seventh, both coaches agreed to end the game.