The USF Bulls, 28-14 (11-4), are coming off of a big win against the 4th ranked Gators as they return home and return to Big East action. The Bulls host Villanova this weekend as they look to move ahead in the standings, but it won't be easy.
Villanova comes into the series with a 23-9 (6-9) record and are 10-10 away from home this year. This will be a key series for the Bulls if they want to keep pace in the Big East regular season title race. Let's take a look at what the Wildcats bring to the field (first game tonight begins at 7PM, the game on Saturday is scheduled for 6PM, and the series wraps up on Sunday at 1PM).
The Wildcats are led by senior 2B Tyler Sciacca (5-10 166-pounds) who is batting .386 with 14 doubles, 6 triples, 1 home run, and has 32 RBIs on the season (throw in 14 steals as well). He is able to spread his hits all over the field, so it will be a challenge to get him out. Senior 1B/3B Kevin Wagner (6-2 220-pounds) is batting .351 with 36 RBIs on the season. Senior outfielder Matt Fleishman (6-0 205-pounds) is batting .345 with 4 home runs and has 34 RBIs on the season. Freshman 3B/OF Brandon Carr (6-3 200-pounds) is batting .296 with 12 RBIs this year. Junior outfielder Paul Rambaud (6-0 180-pounds) is batting .286 with 6 RBIs and has 6 steals on the season. Overall, Nova has a solid batting order that can get it done with steals and moving runners or with power. Barbosa, Lovecchio, and Stultz will have to keep them off the bases and limit the number of people that get on ahead of their power bats.
The Villanova pitching staff is led by sophomore RHP Pat Young (6-7 208-pounds) who is 4-3 on the season with a 3.79 ERA. He has worked 59 innings, allowing 58 hits, 24 walks, and has struck out 42 batters. Senior LHP Kyle Helisek (6-1 173-pounds) is 2-5 on the year with a 6.44 ERA. He has pitched 43 innings, allowing 67 hits, 20 walks, and has struck out 25 batters. Senior RHP Julian Diaz (6-2 232-pounds) is 3-2 on the year (3.66 ERA) with 3 saves. He has pitched 19.2 innings, allowing 19 hits, 6 walks, and has 15 strike outs. Freshman RHP Tyler Radtke (6-4 208-pounds) is 1-1 on the year (2.89 ERA) while working 28 innings, allowing 15 hits, 12 walks, and 19 strike outs. Overall, the Nova pitching staff is solid. They don't quite have the one-two-three punch the Bulls have with their 3 starters, but they have effective arms that will challenge the Bulls. USF will need to continue what they do best, get runners on early and pressure pitchers to throw something in the middle of the plate.
This is a very critical series for the Bulls. Coming off of the big upset win over the Gators, the Bulls need to ride that momentum into the weekend and take at least two out of three against Nova. The Bulls currently sit in a tie for first place with St. John's and UCONN, so they can't afford to slip a winnable game in this series.
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