Under a beautiful windy Florida sky with no clouds, the USF Bulls hosted the Wichita State Shockers. It was a great afternoon for baseball as the Bulls took the field in their dark green tops with neon numbers and names with white pants. The Shockers came out in black tops, white pants, and yellow and black hats. The crowd of just over 1200 was mostly there for the home team. This game was entertaining from the first pitch to the final out. USF had won the night before to start the series on the right path. The final in the game was 7-3. Before the first pitch, I got to meet the family of infielder Eric Snow. Snow is a big part of why this team has had so much success. This is been very common to meet the players’ families.
The game started in the first inning with the USF Bulls having some fielding blunders. Eric Snow fought the sun and could not catch the ball. Wichita State would take advantage and take an early 1-0 lead. The Bulls did not take long to answer as they would get a run of their own in the bottom of the inning. In the second inning, catcher Ben Rozenblum hit a three-run homer off the top of the leftfield wall. The Bulls would go on to score one more run and take a 4-1 early lead. Rozenblum has a career-high six homers, four of which have come in the last nine games. He joins Bobby Boser as the only Bull to homer in three straight games. The score would stay the same until the fifth inning. The Shockers got within two runs at 5-3.
The most important runs came in the sixth and seventh innings. The Bulls score a combined three runs to get to eight total runs. A big defense play came in the sixth inning as Ryan Callahan of the Shockers hit the ball to right field Drew Brutcher, he made an outstanding sliding catch and got up and threw out Millan at second for an inning-ending double play. The play made the Sportscenter top 10 at number four. Pitcher Jack Cebert for the Bulls lasted for one of his longest outings of the season. He lasted seven innings and gave up seven hits, three runs two in which were earned, no walks, and six strikeouts. This helped USF win the game 8-7. The Shockers made it close as they got four runs in the top of the ninth.
This game was fun to attend. It was exciting right from the start of the game. The USF Bulls had good solid pitching and timely hits when they needed it. Marcus Brodil extended his hitting streak to a career-high eight games. The Bulls have recorded 10 or more hits 20 times in the 32 games. USF would go on to sweep the Shockers winning in extras 3-2. The next game will be on Tuesday against the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats for an evening showdown. I am looking forward to it as I will be in attendance. It’s cool to see the game start while the sun is up then go down and play under the lights.
Can the USF Bulls continue with the momentum from the Wichita State series? Leave a comment below.
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