Prado: Tuesday’s loss could hurt USF

USF coach Lelo Prado knows how important it is to recover from the Bulls’ loss Tuesday.

USF looks to bounce back from a 12-10 loss to Jacksonville when they travels to Washington D.C., for a three-game series against Georgetown, starting today
at 1 p.m.

“In the overall picture, a loss like (Tuesday’s) is huge for a team trying to make (a) regional,” Prado said. “Hopefully, we can get out of there with some wins.”

USF (19-11, 7-2) will turn to the front end of its pitching rotation in hopes of continuing its success in conference play.

Sophomore Randy Fontanez, who has a team-high 2.63 ERA in seven games, is expected to start. Fontanez, however, has only two wins on the season.

“I just try to stay focused and control what I can control,” he said.

Junior Shawn Sanford is expected to start Friday, followed by sophomore Derrick Stultz on Saturday. Sanford has seen time as both a starter and reliever this year, making a team-high 10 appearances.

Stultz gave up three earned runs in six innings in USF’s dramatic win over Pittsburgh on Sunday.

USF pitching coach Lazer Collazo said he isn’t too concerned about what happened Tuesday.

“This is baseball, you have to turn the page,” he said. “We can’t dwell on a bad
performance. We’re going to give the ball to Randy (Fontanez) and move forward.”

At 7-2 in the Big East, USF is tied for second with St. John’s in the conference standings. Georgetown is 3-6 in the Big East and 10-19 overall, having lost its last four games.

Georgetown took 2-of-3 from the Bulls in last season’s series at Red McEwen Field.