The USF Bulls, 8-5 on the year, host Eastern Illinois for a 3-game set over the weekend. After splitting two games against Jacksonville during the week, the Bulls are hoping to notch a few weekend and improve their overall record during the long home stand to open the season.
First pitch for tonight's game will be at 7PM, followed by a 6PM start on Saturday with the series ending Sunday with a 1PM start.
Eastern Illinois is 4-6 on the season, but has some talented hitters in their lineup that will provide challenges for the USF pitching staff.
Eastern Illinois is led by sophomore catcher Jacob Reese (5-10 195-pounds) who is batting .417 this season with 5 RBIs. Junior infielder Ryan Dineen (6-1 200-pounds) is batting .394 with 4 doubles and has driven in 7 runs so far. Senior outfielder David Ciaglia (6-2 220-pounds) is batting .379 with 2 home runs and 4 RBIs. Freshman infielder Brent Valach (6-2 205-pounds) is batting .250 with 7 RBIs as well.
The pitching staff is anchored by senior RHP Mike Hoekstra (6-3 185-pounds). He is 1-1 on the year (1.66 ERA) while working 21.2 innings, allowing 12 hits, 2 walks, and has struck out 15 batters. Sophomore RHP Christian Slazinik (6-0 190-pounds) is 2-1 (2.93 ERA) while working 15.1 innings, allowing 13 hits, 4 walks, and has struck out 15 batters. Junior RHP Keith Koser (6-2 215-pounds) has one save while pitching in 5 games, working 4 innings, allowing 7 hits and has struck out 6 batters.
The Bulls should take two of three in this series or even sweep. Eastern Illinois is not a powerful team and is coming off of a 18-33 season last year. The USF pitching has been solid and will need to continue this trend. The offense has been very productive over the last week and will need to continue the trend of timely hitting to help the Bulls improve their overall record early in the season.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment