Games that Got Away

[JoeB]

Its really great how well the baseball team is playing, and there is still a shot at winning the Big East Tournament's automatic berth in the Big Dance, but if we could have won about 3-5 games that we lost during the year, we'd be punching our tickets already.  Here are a few games that would have really solidified our chances of a berth.

1.  Florida-  This game hurt because we had it won until the last inning.  Beating SEC power Florida would have really added to an impressive resume.  Instead it sticks out as the biggest loss of the year when it could have put us on the map.

2.  Georgia Tech-  Sure they knocked us around that weekend, but in Game 2 of the series for a brief period, USF had a lead in the 7th inning.  The lead didn't stand and GT ended up blowing the Bulls out.  Beating this ACC powerhouse would have really helped our tournament chances.

3.  Villanova-  Game 1 of the 'Nova series was a brutal loss.  I predicted at the time that if we won Game 1, we would have swept them that weekend.  This game featured a gem from Danny Otero where he pitched 9 near flawless innings and 120 pitches.  The problem was Villanova's starter, Mike Loree matched Otero, and even went longer (10 innings).  Loree threw a ridiculous 150+ pitches on the day, and was rewarded with a win when USF gave up a run in the 10th.  We were able to come back and win Game 2, but Game 3 was another loss.  Tough weekend in Philly, and this was the start of a terrible Conference stretch for USF.

4.  Rutgers-  Pick a game, any game.  Losing a series at home to Rutgers was bad enough, but getting swept was out of the question.  One win here would have stopped the bleeding in that bad fortnight of USF baseball, but that one win never came.  I still wake up in a cold sweat thinking of Todd Frazier hitting line drive after line drive off of the USF staff.

5.  Central Michigan-  Not big in name, but the Chippewas beat us two out of three if memory serves.  Its OK to lose once to them, but losing the series was not a good sign.  Really the first time all season where the bullpen was a glaring weakness for the '07 Bulls.