USF designated hitter Luke Borders ignited the Bulls' ninth inning rally with a leadoff single.
ORACLE FILE PHOTO
USF baseball notched a dramatic win once again on Tuesday night.
Down four in the seventh inning, the Bulls rallied to steal an 8-6 win from Stetson in front of a crowd of 787 at Conrad Park in DeLand, Florida.
Trailing by a run entering the ninth inning, the Bulls immediately put runners on with back-to-back singles from Luke Borders and Joe Genord, setting USF up with two runners aboard with no outs.
Up next at the plate for USF (28-5) was Duke Stunkel Jr., who laid down what was intended to be a sacrifice bunt.
The Hatters pitcher then gathered the bunt and botched the throw to first, advancing Stunkel to second, Genord to third, and bringing Borders home to tie the game at six.
Two batters later, David Villar delivered a two-RBI single to left field, giving the Bulls the lead for good.
The tight finish wasn’t anything new for the Bulls.
The ninth-inning rally to beat the Hatters on Tuesday night was the sixth time this season USF scored in the ninth inning or later to win the game, and its third time in the past four games.
Despite their losing record, Stetson (15-20) has proven to be a tough team to beat.
The Hatters have taken series against both Florida Gulf Coast and Tulane, two teams the Bulls are a combined 1-3 against.
Next up for the Bulls is Cincinnati (16-16), which comes to Tampa for a three game series starting Thursday night at 6:30.
