Bulls VS SJU, Game 1

[JoeB]

Bulls down 3-0 in the 2nd inning.  Otero has given up two homers so far.

[Brad]

Courtesy USF

USF BASEBALL

Maruszak Homers In Bulls' 12-8 Loss To No. 23 St. John's

TAMPA, Fla. (May 17, 2007) – Sophomore third baseman Addison Maruszak notched his third home run of the season in the University of South Florida's 12-8 loss to No. 23 St. John's Thursday night at Red McEwen Field in Tampa.  

Maruszak sent a walk-off shot to left field in the sixth inning for his fourth-career bomb. Maruszak was 3-for-5 in the game with a pair of RBI and one run scored.

Junior Dexter Butler was also 3-for-5, driving in three runs while juniors Charles Cleveland and Brandin Daniel each had two hits with an RBI. Cleveland also drew two walks.  

Senior right handed pitcher Danny Otero gave up 11 hits and eight runs in 5.0 innings, striking out one and walking one Red Storm player. Otero faced 29 batters in his seventh loss of the year.  

St. John's took an 9-2 lead after five, and even though USF scored six runs over the next three innings, the Red Storm extended their lead in three out of the next four innings, earning their 19th BIG EAST win.  

The Red Storm took a 3-0 lead in the second inning, but USF fought back in the bottom of the fourth, scoring two runs from four hits to bring the game within one. Junior Walter Diaz singled through the right side, then Butler singled up the middle, but Maruszak lined into a double play to get Diaz at second. Junior Joey Angelberger drew a walk, then senior Ty Taborelli sent a base hit to left field to score Butler and pick up his 89th-career RBI. Cleveland added to the hit spree with a single up the middle, scoring Angelberger for USF's second run of the inning.  

The Red Storm added six more runs over the next two innings, giving St. John's the 9-2 lead. Maruszak's home run in the sixth drew the score within half a dozen, but the Red Storm again extended their lead, scoring two in the seventh to go ahead 11-3.  

USF again answered by adding five runs over the next two innings to draw the score to 11-8 in favor of St. John's.  

In the seventh, the Bulls scored after sophomore Mike Consolmagno reached on a walk, then crossed the plate on a single by Butler.  

An inning later, Cleveland doubled down the left field line then scored as junior Brandin Daniel singled up the middle. Sophomore Braulio Pardo added a third-consecutive hit in the inning, a single to right field, then Consolmagno drew a walk to load the bases. With two outs, Butler picked up two more RBI with a single through the left side. After a pitching change, Maruszak sent his first pitch to left field to score Consolmagno and draw the score within three.  

The Bulls gave up one run from two hits in the top of the ninth, but USF was held scoreless in the final frame, dropping their 23rd game of the season.  

The Bulls and Red Storm will meet again at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 18, then at 1 p.m. Saturday for the regular season finale. USF will recognize five seniors, including Nick Cardieri, Chris Delaney, Yuri Higgins, Danny Otero and Ty Taborelli, prior to the game on Saturday.

Listen to Friday and Saturday’s games live on the USF Press Pass, with Jim Louk and Garrett Woolvard calling the play-by-play.  

After the three-game set with St. John’s, USF will await their seed for the 2007 BIG EAST Conference Baseball Championship held May 22-26 in Brooklyn, N.Y.

[Drewski]

Maruszak sent a walk-off shot to left field in the sixth inning for his fourth-career bomb.

A walk off shot? Somebody doesn't know their baseball terminology...

Seemed like it was a hard fought game. Wish the outcome had been a little different.

[JoeB]

I was about to write the same thing.  Tough loss for the boys, hopefully they'll come out tomorrow night and win.  The good news is Villanova and Notre Dame also lost so we keep the 5th seed for the time being.

[SRQ]

The Johnies better get their wins now because in the future the BaseBulls will be one Tampa Bay team that will own their NYC counterpart.