The Wildcats End The Bulls’ Ninth-Inning Rally to Sweep Season Series

TAMPA, Fla. — Despite a valiant bottom-of-the-ninth rally, the University of South Florida Bulls (22-7) fell short against the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats (20-9) with a 6-5 loss at the USF Baseball Stadium on Tuesday night.

The loss marks USF’s first home defeat to Bethune-Cookman since 2012 and officially seals a 2-0 season-series sweep for the Wildcats.

South Florida came out of the gates swinging in the bottom of the first. Ryan Pruitt sparked the offense with a leadoff double to left field and was subsequently brought home by a Matt Rose RBI single up the middle, giving the Bulls an early 1-0 advantage. USF starting pitcher Dominic Pontbriant was dialed in, tossing four scoreless innings while allowing just a single hit.

However, the momentum violently shifted in a wild top of the fifth inning.

After Pontbriant exited, the Wildcats’ bats exploded against the USF bullpen. Jeter Polledo sparked the surge with a leadoff double, eventually scoring on an RBI fielder’s choice by Jose Fernandez.

Plagued by a costly throwing error from third baseman Jack Lutz and a wild pitch, the Bulls’ defense unraveled. Bethune-Cookman capitalized aggressively, with Michael Rodriguez hitting a sacrifice fly, Christopher Watson lacing an RBI single, and Andrey Martinez delivering the crushing blow: a two-RBI single to left-center. By the time the dust settled, Bethune-Cookman had hung six runs on the board to take a commanding 6-1 lead.

The Bulls clawed back in the sixth when Lance Trippel ripped a two-RBI double down the left-field line, cutting the deficit to 6-3.

The real drama unfolded in the bottom of the ninth. Jack Lutz ignited the dugout with a one-out triple to right-center and was quickly driven in by a pinch-hit RBI single from Jackson Geiger. After a pair of walks loaded the bases, Pruitt reached on a fielder’s choice that scored Easton Beach, bringing the Bulls within a single run.

With the tying run 90 feet away, B-CU closer Pablo Torres entered the crucible and struck out Bradke Lohry swinging to slam the door and secure the 6-5 victory.

USF Head Coach Mitch Hannahs

“You can’t hand a good hitting team free bases and defensive miscues in a single inning and expect to walk away with a W. We let things completely unravel in the fifth. I’m proud of the grit our guys showed to battle back and put the tying run on third in the ninth, but we simply put ourselves in too deep of a hole tonight.”

B-CU Relief Pitcher Anthony Anselmo

“We knew USF wasn’t going to go down quietly on their home turf. My goal coming out of the bullpen was just to throw strikes and trust my defense. That six-run inning gave us the cushion we needed, and Pablo [Torres] was absolute ice out there in the ninth.”

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Key Statistics & Box Score Highlights

Team Records Update: * Bethune-Cookman: 20-9 (8-1 SWAC)

• South Florida: 22-7 (3-3 American)

Pitching Lines

Pitcher	Team	Decision	IP	H	ER	BB	SO
Dominic Pontbriant	USF	ND	4.0	1	0	0	1
Will Allen	USF	L (0-1)	0.0	–	–	–	–
Anthony Anselmo	B-CU	W (1-1)	6.1	5	3	3	4
Pablo Torres	B-CU	SV (2)	0.2	0	0	1	1

Offensive Leaders

• Bethune-Cookman (Wildcats)
  • Andrey Martinez: 2-for-4, 2 RBI
  • Jeter Polledo: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B
  • Christopher Watson: 1-for-2, 1 R, 1 RBI
• South Florida (Bulls)
  • Lance Trippel: 1-for-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI
  • Ryan Pruitt: 1-for-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 SB
  • Jack Lutz: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 3B (Extended hitting streak to 9 games)