OPINION: USF baseball and softball top Oracle’s best of the week
ORACLE PHOTO/CAMILLE GRALL
As the spring semester winds down, a multitude of USF teams’ seasons are in full swing.
Over the past week, the Bulls’ picture was painted by strokes of success on the diamond while women’s lacrosse struggled against a top-15 opponent and the women’s tennis season came to a close.
Here are the best and worst of USF athletics from the last week.
Best of the Bulls
Despite an early week 19-0 loss to No. 10 Florida State, USF baseball bounced back in a big way for an in-conference series victory against the Charlotte 49ers.
On Thursday, a walk-off single by senior infielder Rafael Betancourt propelled the Bulls to a 5-4 victory.
The USF win ended a three-game slide that pushed USF down the rankings in the American Athletic Conference.
The Bulls are now second in the conference, falling two games behind UTSA.
In another tightly-contested game on Friday, senior infielder Bradke Lohry hit his own walk-off single to push the Bulls over Charlotte in a 7-6 victory.
Across the complex, USF softball made quick work of the Memphis Tigers over the weekend.
Related: USF softball dominates Memphis, sweeps weekend series
USF softball notched its second straight sweep, which included an 8-0 run rule victory on Saturday.
The Bulls’ late season run poises them for a run at first place in the AAC. The Bulls are 1.5 games back of first place, behind Florida Atlantic.
Worst of the Bulls
ORACLE PHOTO/KEATON DUKE
USF’s women’s lacrosse seemingly had no answers for the strong attack of No. 11 James Madison University during their 20-6 loss on Saturday.
Before their bout against JMU, the Bulls’ heavy-handed attack averaged 16 goals per game on their way to an 11-3 record.
Yet, the Bulls’ fast-paced offense was stifled against the stout JMU defense.
Related: USF gambling expert weighs in on rise of college student sports betting
USF’s defense gave up their most goals in a single game all season.
On the tennis court, the USF women’s team fell in the first round of the AAC tournament to Memphis on Thursday to close out a 6-14 season.
Although the Bulls won a pair of doubles matches, they couldn’t stack up against the Tigers in their singles matches. The Bulls lost 4-3.
The Bulls closed out their season on a three-game losing streak.
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