Bulls vs. Hatters Finale Tuesday at the Red

[Brad]

Courtesy USF

USF BASEBALL

Bulls And No. 22 Hatters Meet For Game Three On Tuesday At 7 p.m.

TAMPA, Fla. (May 14, 2007) – The University of South Florida Bulls (30-22, 12-12 BIG EAST) and the No. 22  Stetson Hatters (38-14, 20-4 A-Sun) will meet for the third and final time of the 2007 regular season on Tuesday, May 15 at 7 p.m. at Red McEwen Field in Tampa.  

USF trails the all-time series with Stetson 75-71, but looks to win back-to-back games against the Hatters for the first time since 2005. The Bulls beat Stetson 6-5 on March 6 after losing 9-4 to the Hatters Feb. 20 in DeLand. USF beat Stetson for the first time in six tries with the victory in March and broke the Hatters' 13-game Tuesday-night winning streak, which included three contests this season, and the rest dating back to last season.

USF and Stetson first met in 1966, USF's first season of baseball. The Hatters took that March 19 game 3-1 in DeLand. Stetson last beat USF earlier this season, 9-4, on Feb. 20, 2007, also in DeLand.  

USF enters Tuesday’s game after taking 2-of-3 from Seton Hall May 11-12. The Bulls won the first two games by a total of 12-4, but lost to the Pirates 4-1 Sunday afternoon.  

USF is batting .284 with 492 hits in 1731 at bats. USF has 76 doubles, eight triples and 237 drawn walks. USF has scored 337 runs while allowing 301 against. The Bulls own a 4.64 earned run average after allowing 495 hits and 238 earned runs in 461.2 innings. USF has struck out 359 batters and walked 214.  

The Stetson Hatters are 6-2 in their last eight games with three Ws over East Tennessee State, two at Lipscomb and one at Central Florida. Stetson lost to Central Florida May 8 in DeLand and at Lipscomb on Sunday, May 13.  

The Hatters have produced 577 hits in 1847 at bats for a .312 average this season. Stetson has collected 24 home runs, 12 triples and 104 doubles while drawing 177 walks. On the mound, Stetson owns a 3.43 ERA, allowing 217 runs, 179 of which were earned from 434 hits. The Hatter pitchers have struck out 337 and walked just 166.  

Individually, USF junior shortstop Walter Diaz leads the Bulls with a .357 average from a team-high 74 hits in 207 at bats. His 54 runs scored, 11 doubles, 90 total bases and 14 stolen bases are also atop the Bulls’ stat sheet.  

Jeremy Cruz is the Hatters’ top hitter, connecting on 76 hits in 202 at bats for a .376 average. Cruz has a team-high 16 doubles along with his two home runs and pair of triples.  

After the in-state match up with Stetson, USF will host St. John’s in the final weekend of BIG EAST play. The Bulls and Red Storm will meet at 6 p.m. on both Thursday, May 17 and Friday, May 18, then at 1 p.m. Saturday for the regular season finale. USF will recognize five seniors prior to the game on Saturday, including Nick Cardieri, Chris Delaney, Yuri Higgins, Danny Otero and Ty Taborelli.