TAMPA — Bethune-Cookman faces another midweek challenge Tuesday night as they travel to Tampa for a road date with the South Florida Bulls at USF Baseball Stadium. The contest begins at 6 p.m. EST and will be streamed live on ESPN+.



Tuesday, March 30
Opponent: South Florida (22-6, 3-3)
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Tampa, Fla. | USF Baseball Stadium
Watch: https://www.espn.com/watch/catalog/e364bfcd-493d-3bfb-ac83-bd27d66fedd0/baseball#bucketId=29774&sourceCollection=Browse_By_Sport_New
Tickets: https://am.ticketmaster.com/univsouthflorida/buy/ism/MjZCQjAzMzE=
Live Stats: https://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statmonitr.php?gid=sfla

Bethune-Cookman (19-9, 8-1) led off the game with a bang as Erick Almonte hit a ball past the outstretched glove of the JSU right fielder and hustled all the way home for an inside the park home run. It was Almonte's first home run of the season and it gave the Wildcats the early 1-0 lead.

After a few scoreless innings, Jackson State tied the game in the fourth inning on an RBI double by Pierre Cabral.

In the fifth, Andrey Martinez hammered a no-doubt two-run homer to left field to regain the advantage for B-CU. 

The Tigers would quickly fight back in the sixth, using three singles to drive in four runs and take a narrow 4-3 lead.

The Wildcats would take the lead for good in the seventh. After Michael Rodriguez was hit by a pitch to start the inning, Sergio Rivera crushed another no-doubt home run to left field to give B-CU the 5-4 lead.
Justin Morales pitched the final 3.2 for the Wildcats, allowing no runs on just one hit despite some issues with command. He earned his second win of the season.

The South Florida Bulls are 22-6 this season. After their loss earlier in the season to the Wildcats, the Bulls won 11 of 12 games, including dominant midweek victories over Jacksonville and Stetson. The matchup with B-CU back in February remains the team's only midweek loss of the season.

USF receives strong contributions all across the lineup. The team deploys nine hitters with at least 10 RBI and are hitting .300 overall. They do not hit for a ton of power, accumulating just 10 home runs which ranks last in the American conference.

The Bulls also have one of the best pitching staffs in the country in terms of ERA, ranking fifth in Division I in the category. They do not strikeout a ton of batters, instead relying on strong defense to limit scoring opportunities. USF ranks second in the country in fielding percentage.

South Florida will likely rely on the bullpen against B-CU as they did in the previous matchup.


 

• Dawson Turner will make his first start of the season on Tuesday. He has allowed eight runs in 4.2 innings this season with eight strikeouts.
• The Wildcats hit four home runs against the Tigers over the weekend, the most in any series this season.
• Pablo Torres has not allowed a run since February 22nd.

The Wildcats have won the last two matchups with South Florida, but the Bulls hold the all-time edge 45 to 16.

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