Bulls beat UCF in fifth straight win at home
A gust of wind could have changed the outcome, but luckily for the Bulls there was hardly a breeze on Wednesday night at USF.
Had there been any significant wind, Kyle Teafs three-run blast in the third inning would have been foul.
The home run was such a close call that groans were audibly heard from the crowd as they thought the ball had went to the right of the right field foul pole.
Luck was on USFs side and the ball stayed fair by mere feet.
Just over 2,000 fans were in attendance to witness USF (18-14, 7-2) defeat UCF (18-15, 4-5) by a score of 9-3 on Wednesday evening.
This was only a one-game series between the two teams.
Despite the hard hits delivered by the Bulls lineup, pitching is what held UCF at bay for most of the game.
Starting pitcher freshman Jimmy Herget didnt surrender a hit until the fifth inning in which he ran into a bit of trouble.
Except for the fifth inning in which USF surrendered three runs, pitching was strong for the Bulls.
The Knights were held scoreless for eight innings of the game and never threatened the Bulls lead after the fifth inning.
I was hoping to get at least five or six innings out of him (Herget) and I could have left him in, but with the way our bullpen has been pitching, I wanted to go to them, coach Lelo Prado said.
Two runners were thrown out trying to score on an infield grounder and the plays killed rallies that USF was mounting. On one play, a runner got caught in between bases and after he was tagged out, a runner trying to score was tagged out as well.
Before the play, USF had runners on second and third with one out and afterwards the Bulls were headed to the dugout with their heads hung low. However, Prado said he saw the base running as more of an unlikely scenario that will most likely not repeat.
As long as they can stay aggressive, I can accept that. Prado said. But they have to be smart.
While the game looked to turn into a nail-biter after the fifth inning, the Bulls broke the game wide open in the bottom of the sixth.
A five-run outburst turned the game into a blowout, and the Knights never came within five after that.
We had great at-bats, Prado said. We did some good things and Im glad we finished the job.
The Bulls face Alcorn State in a three-game series starting Friday at 7 p.m. and ending with a 1 p.m. game on Sunday afternoon.
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