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USF softball to host Super Regionals
As if winning an NCAA regional for the second time in school history wasn't enough good news for USF softball, the Bulls will have the advantage of their home field for this week's Super Regionals, with Hofstra coming to play a best-of-three series at USF Softball Stadium starting on Thursday or Friday.
Both USF and Hofstra knocked off seeded teams in their regionals, and the NCAA selection committee then chose the Bulls -- who with an RPI of 17 were close to being one of 16 teams hosting a regional in the first place -- rather than Hofstra, whose RPI entering the weekend was 49.
The Bulls got a pair of 1-0 wins on the way to winning the regional, opening with a 1-0 victory against Central Florida, finding their bats in an 8-3 win against Florida Gulf Coast, then beating the No. 5 Gators in Gainesville for the second time this season, with Sara Nevins striking out 12 in a complete-game shutout.
Nevins throws gem as USF wins NCAA regional, 1-0
USF softball got a complete-game shutout and 12 strikeouts from ace Sara Nevins, and the Bulls eliminated host Florida with a huge 1-0 win Sunday to win an NCAA regional for just the second time in school history.
The Bulls (48-11) are now in strong position to host a Super Regional in Tampa this week against the winner of today's Hofstra-San Diego State final in Los Angeles. The NCAA selection committee will choose which team hosts the best-of-three Super Regional series, but USF's RPI rating is 17, well ahead of SDSU (45) and Hofstra (49).
The Bulls got their lone run in the fourth, when Stephanie Medina led off with a double and Kenshyra Jackson brought home the run by beating out the throw on an infield single. Florida (48-13) threatened in the sixth wih the bases loaded and no outs, but Nevins got two strikeouts and a groundout to end the inning, then retired the side in order in the seventh.
USF has made the Super Regional just one other time under coach Ken Eriksen, doing so in 2006. Stay tuned for news tonight on whether the Bulls will host and when the games will be played.
USF baseball avoids sweep, takes No. 4 seed
USF baseball avoided a sweep with a 5-4 win in 12 innings at West Virginia in the final Big East event the Mountaineers will host -- and despite finishing just a game out of first place, the Bulls will have the No. 4 seed in the Big East tournament this week in Clearwater.
USF (34-20, 17-10) will open the tournament Wednesday at 8 p.m. against fifth-seeded Connecticut -- a team the Bulls sweep just a week ago in their final home series. Had the Bulls won more than one game against West Virginia, they would have earned a share of the Big East crown, though USF would have taken the No. 3 seed with tiebreakers going to Louisville and St. John's.
The Bulls prevailed in 12 innings on Saturday after an RBI groundout by freshman Buddy Putnam, scoring Jimmy Falla, who had walked and advanced on a single by Kyle Teaf. USF got 4.2 innings of scoreless relief from Austin Adams and Steven Leasure. ... Read more
USF softball wins, advances to Sunday finals
USF softball has put itself in strong position to advance from this weekend's NCAA regionals, advancing to Sunday's finals with an 8-3 win Saturday against Florida Gulf Coast in Gainesville.
USF (47-11) jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first on a two-run, two-out triple by Gina Kafalas, and Lindsey Richardson and Sara Nevins combined to keep FGCU's bats in check; Kenshyra Jackson drove in USF's first run and finished with a season-high four hits. The Bulls now have the rest of the day off, while FGCU plays tonight against the winner of today's Florida-Central Florida elimination game.
What's more, USF gets two chances at a clinching win on Sunday -- Saturday's surviving team would have to beat the Bulls twice in a row to claim the regional title. The Bulls have only advanced to Super Regionals once in their history, doing so in 2006.
Winning the first two games in an NCAA regional creates a huge advantage -- of the 16 teams to do so in last year's regionals, 15 moved on to Super Regionals, with DePaul the only exception. And of those 15 regional champs, only two needed a second game on Sunday to clinch the regional title. ... Read more
Gators' NCAA loss sets path for USF softball
USF softball's path at the NCAA regionals in Gainesville took a surprising turn Friday night, as the host Gators, seeded fifth nationally, lost 2-1 to Florida Gulf Coast, meaning the Bulls will face the Eagles today at 1 p.m. for a spot in Sunday's regional finals.
USF (46-11) beat Florida and FGCU in the regular season, but the possibility of not having to face the Gators on their home field is a promising one -- FGCU's RPI, by comparison, is 81 as opposed to 7 for UF. The USF-FGCU winner advances to Sunday, while the loser has to play again tonight against the winner of the UF-Central Florida game at 3:30.
USF and FGCU met on the opening day of the season, Feb. 10, with the Bulls prevailing 4-2 in Tampa. FGCU outhit USF 8-5, with Lindsey Richardson keeping their bats in check in 4.1 scoreless innings. Sara Nevins came on in relief and gave up six hits, including a two-run home run in the seventh, but she got a strikeout to end the game with the tying run at the plate. ... Read more
USF sending West Virginia out as winners, again
USF has had the odd luck of being West Virginia's final Big East opponent in several sports, but the Bulls haven't been able to deliver a proper goodbye as the Mountaineers move on to the Big 12.
It happened in football, when West Virginia rallied to win in the final minute in Tampa in December, and again in men's basketball, when USF closed out its regular season with a rare home loss to the Mountaineers. And now in baseball, where USF entered the weekend with a chance at a Big East title, but has taken two disappointing losses in West Virginia's farewell series. ... Read more
Mouse helps Bulls close out 1-0 win vs. UCF
USF senior third baseman Jessica Mouse came up with key defensive plays to end the sixth and seventh innings as the Bulls held on for a huge 1-0 win against Central Florida in the NCAA regional in Gainesville on Friday.
Mouse, who also had one of USF's two hits, made a leaping grab with the bases loaded to end the sixth, preserving USF's one-run lead, and with two on and one out in the seventh, Mouse fielded a ground ball, stepped on third and threw to first for the game-ending double play. USF's Sara Nevins struck out 10 in a nearly complete game, with reliever Lindsey Richardson retiring one batter in the sixth before Nevins re-entered.
USF got its lone run without a hit, on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Janine Richardson in the third inning. The Bulls (46-11) now face the winner of tonight's game between host Florida and Florida Gulf Coast.
USF softball opens NCAA regional vs. UCF at 3:30
USF softball is back in the NCAA regionals for the first time in four years this afternoon, with a 3:30 first pitch in Gainesville against Central Florida. (You can follow the game online through free live video from UF's official site.)
The Bulls (45-11) will face a tough Knights team that went 39-17 and also beat the host Gators, as USF did in March. UCF will throw freshman Mackenzie Audas -- from Plant City -- who had a 1.21 ERA and struck out 261 batters. USF's Ken Eriksen wouldn't confirm a starter on Wednesday in interviews with the media, but he's expected to throw sophomore Sara Nevins, who has a 1.06 ERA, a 26-5 record and 273 strikeouts this season.
USF comes in with more experience and success against top-tier competition -- the Bulls are 25-9 this season against teams in the current RPI top 100, while UCF has a 13-15 record in such games. The Bulls and Knights last met in the 2008 NCAA regionals, where UCF got a 3-2 in Gainesville. ... Read more
Notes: Busy summer for USF soccer players
USF's soccer players are keeping busy this summer, with many participating in national developmental leagues that allow them to play at a high level of competition and travel around the country while maintaining their amateur status as college athletes.
USF women's coach Denise Schilte-Brown has at least seven current players and a few alums playing in the United Soccer Leagues' W-League, which has a local team in the Tampa Flames, who next play on May 25 at the Atlanta Silverbacks. The Flames' men's and women's teams play their home games in Brandon at the J.C. Handley Park, on Kings Avenue just north of Bloomingdale Avenue.
The Tampa Flames team in the W-League has five current Bulls -- midfielders Alexandra "Boo" Eagle, Kayla Bala and Daniela Andrade, forward Alexa Hosey and defender Sarah Miller -- as well as Bulls alums Noelle Pineiro, Yvonne George and Autumn Browning. Two more of USF's top returning players, leading scorer Demi Stokes and Taylor Patterson, are playing in the same league for the Vancouver Whitecaps. ... Read more
Baseball takes costly 6-3 loss at West Virginia
Winning on the road is never an easy thing, but USF baseball missed an opportunity to move into a tie for first place in the Big East standings on Thursday night, falling 6-3 at West Virginia to open its final series of the regular season.
USF (33-19, 16-9 in Big East) faced a Mountaineers team that came in just 2-13 against the top seven teams in the league standings, and facing the pitching staff with the league's worst team ERA at 6.31, was outhit 13-6. The bottom six batters in USF's lineup went a combined 1-for-18, and starter Andrew Barbosa gave up nine hits in five innings.
To make matters worse, first-place St. John's lost to Seton Hall, so a Bulls win would have put USF in a three-way tie for first with two games left in the regular season. Louisville outlasted Pittsburgh 6-5 in 12 innings, so the Cardinals and Red Storm are now tied for first at 17-8, while USF and Seton Hall are tied for third at 16-9, one game back. ... Read more
About the blog
South Florida Bulls fans, you've come to the right place: the USF Sports Bulletin blog. Tampa Bay Times sportswriter Greg Auman, who covers USF, will post news and thoughts on the Bulletin, and we invite your participation in the comments area.
Follow the Times' coverage of USF athletics on Twitter.
E-mail Greg Auman:auman@tampabay.com.
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