Make it four: Bulls knock off Notre Dame again
CLEARWATER -- After three one-run wins against Notre Dame last week, USF knew it'd be tough to pull off another one Tuesday in the opening round of the Big East tournament at Bright House Field.
Instead, the sixth-seeded Bulls beat the third-seeded Fighting Irish by six runs. USF (30-25) pounded 15 hits while holding Notre Dame to five in a dominating 9-3 victory, a game that ended at 1:25 a.m. Wednesday morning. Now the Bulls play second-seeded Cincinnati at 8 p.m. Wednesday, with the winner advancing to Friday's semifinals.
"Once we jumped up 6-2, I think they were like 'Oh, here we go again,'" first baseman Joey Angelberger said. "They're a tough team, third in the conference. They can beat any team in the conference, maybe just not the Bulls."
USF scored six runs in the second inning, getting two-run singles from seniors Charles Cleveland and Angelberger as seven consecutive Bulls reached base. Every Bulls starter had at least one hit in the game, and Angelberger and shortstop Addison Maruszak had three each.
Freshman pitchers Derrick Stultz and Matt Stull (5-2) stayed in control on the mound, holding Notre Dame in check after a two-run first. Stull allowed just two hits and one run in five innings of relief, striking out two in the ninth.
"He throws strikes, and in tournament play, you've got to have guys who throw strikes," coach Lelo Prado said. "He did a great job."
Morning rains had pushed the start of the tournament back two hours Tuesday, so the Bulls didn't start their game until 10:11 p.m., and didn't finish until more than three hours later. Losing would have meant coming back to play in an elimination game at 1 p.m. Wednesday -- less than 12 hours later -- but now the Bulls can wait until Wednesday night to face the Bearcats. Junior right-hander Daniel Thomas (2-3, 3.83) will start for the Bulls.
Cincinnati (37-19) took two of three games from the Bulls when the two teams played in Ohio in March. Before Tuesday's outburst, the Bulls had totaled nine runs in their six-game Big East tournament history. The Bulls won their first two games in last year's tournament but were then eliminated in back-to-back shutouts against Connecticut.
Times sportswriter Greg Auman, who covers USF, will post news and thoughts on the Bulletin and we invite your participation in the comments area.
GREG!! You are sooo fast the game just got over! Wow kudos man. And congrats to the bulls.
Posted by: jarred | May 21, 2008 at 01:29 AM
Good for them. I hope they can get 3?4? more W's
Posted by: DELdaBULL | May 21, 2008 at 07:35 AM
GO BULLS!
Greg - when was the last time the USF baseball team made the NCAA tournament?
Posted by: Mike Lakeland | May 21, 2008 at 07:47 AM
Blogging in the A.M. hours...
Here's a song for you, Greg. Tell your wife to watch it: (Just replace "she" with "he"!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlPhTLGN4k8
Posted by: BasketBull. | May 21, 2008 at 08:20 AM
Great win. Time to even the year with Cinc.
Posted by: Ken | May 21, 2008 at 08:53 AM
GA,
How many wins do we need to win this thing?
Posted by: DELdaBULL | May 21, 2008 at 10:12 AM
Del, the easy answer is four total wins. If USF were to lose one of the next two games, the Bulls would need to win a fifth game to get the Big East crown -- it's just a lot harder coming out of the losers' bracket. Win tonight, they play Friday, and win there and they play for a championship on Saturday afternoon.
Posted by: G.A. | May 21, 2008 at 10:46 AM
Great news for a mediocre USF baseball team. Why doesn't the University of Tampa get any press? Their baseball team is going for their 3rd straight Division II baseball title but nobody in this area knows about it.
Posted by: UT Spartan | May 21, 2008 at 11:49 AM
UT,
You answered your own question... they are Division II. No one really cares.
Posted by: SailingBull | May 21, 2008 at 12:01 PM
UT doesnt have their own blog, so now you have to be like the UCF people and ruin our blog.
Step up from Division II and we will talk.
Posted by: Reality | May 21, 2008 at 12:01 PM
I'm sure we'll have coverage of UT's baseball team the rest of the way. UT doesn't have as big an audience of fans in our market -- the Spartans' region championship win in Tampa drew an attendance of just 248 people, for instance. I'll try to throw a few links up this week ...
Posted by: G.A. | May 21, 2008 at 12:42 PM
Beating Notre Dame does not a season make. Louisville is clicking again.
Posted by: Charles | May 21, 2008 at 01:13 PM
Greg, I hope you aren't ignoring me - maybe I try too hard?!?!
My question was: When was the last time USF made the NCAA tournament?
Posted by: Mike Lakeland | May 21, 2008 at 05:20 PM
Sorry, overlooked your question. The last time USF made the NCAA regionals was 2002, under Eddie Cardieri. USF was only 35-29 that season, not much different from the Bulls' 30-25 record now. Cardieri took the Bulls to the NCAAs nine times from 1986-2002.
Posted by: G.A. | May 21, 2008 at 06:03 PM
Thanks man!!!
Posted by: Mike Lakeland | May 22, 2008 at 08:15 AM