USF Takes on UCONN in the First Game of the Big East Tournament

Game on.

The Bulls finished the season with an impressive record of 34-20 (17-10) and earned the number 4 seed in the Big East tournament in Clearwater, Florida (missed it last season completely).  For the first round, the Bulls will face the 5th seeded UCONN Huskies, the same team they swept just two weeks ago in Tampa.

The Huskies finished the regular season at 29-25-1 (16-11) and ended the year with a win over Notre Dame, so they will have the momentum rolling heading into this game and will look to knock off the Bulls early (game begins at 8PM).


UCONN is led by senior infielder Tim Martin (6-0 180-pounds) is batting .341 on the season with 3 home runs and has 23 RBIs on the season.  Junior infielder LJ Mazzilli (6-1 190-pounds) is batting .327 with 4 home runs, 18 doubles, and has 37 RBIs on the year.  Junior outfielder Billy Ferriter (6-2 200-pounds) is batting .327 with 1 home run, 29 RBIs, and leads the Huskies with 23 steals (major speed threat).  Senior infielder Ryan Fuller (6-1 205-pounds) is batting .314 with 4 home runs, 16 doubles, and has 34 RBIs on the year.  Sophomore infielder Tom Verdi (6-1 170-pounds) is batting .291 with 4 home runs and has 33 RBIs on the season. The USF pitching staff was able to work through the UCONN roster during the sweep with relative ease, getting ahead in counts and not allowing them to get too many base runners aboard.  However, Barbosa was hit hard against WVU (not the best hitting club in the world) and chased Stultz after just 1.2 innings of work, so the Bulls starters will have to do a better job of locating their pitches and getting the job done like they have all season.

The UCONN pitching staff is anchored by junior RHP Scott Oberg (6-2 200-pounds) who is 5-0 during the regular season (1.09 ERA) with 7 saves while tossing 33 innings, allowing 17 hits, 12 walks, and struck out 32 batters.  Senior RHP David Fischer (6-5 200-pounds) is 4-6 on the season (3.54 ERA) and tossed 73.2 innings, allowing 68 hits, 25 walks, and struck out 64 batters in the regular season to lead the starting rotation. Freshman RHP Carson Cross (6-5 205-pounds) is 3-1 (1.47 ERA) with 1 save while tossing 30.2 innings, allowing 24 hits, 6 walks, and has 27 strike outs on the season.  The Bulls have been swinging some hot bats as of late.  Alex Mendez, James Ramsay, and Luis Llerena have been doing a lot of damage and were able to get on base early and often against UCONN.  They need to do the same in this game and hopefully get other bats like Brazeal (struggling down the stretch) and Teaf (heating up) to help contribute as well.

The winner of this game will face the winner of the Pitt vs. Louisville game, but first things first, beat UCONN.