Two and 'cue: Bulls softball eliminated

It's been more than a decade since I first heard it from FSU baseball Mike Martin, describing an all-too-early exit from a double-elimination tournament: "Two and 'cue" is short for "O and 2 and barbecue." Lose your first two games, you can go home and get the charcoal going.

So the excitement of USF softball winning the Big East regular-season title has been muted a bit by the Bulls dropping their first two games in the NCAA Regional in Gainesville. Georgia Tech beat the Bulls 9-2 on Saturday -- helped by six USF errors -- to eliminate them after a 3-2 loss to Central Florida on Friday.

Freshman pitcher Capri Catalano clearly wasn't healthy -- despite USF insisting nothing was physically wrong with her -- as the Bulls' ace did not pitch in either game this weekend. Senior Courtney Mosch, reliable all season in the circle, struggled against Georgia Tech, giving up seven hits in three innings, though only two of the seven runs she allowed were earned.

USF didn't have much offensively -- its No. 8 and 9 hitters, Kelly McCarver and Aya Nakajima, went a combined 4-for-5, but the first seven hitters in the Bulls' batting order were a combined 2-for-18 against Georgia Tech.

The defensive letdown alone makes it the kind of game you don't want to end a season with, but USF returns a huge portion of its lineup next season, as well as getting some key veterans back from injuries.