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Junior LHP Parker gets opening-day nod for Bulls
USF baseball coach Lelo Prado has announced his pitching rotation for this weekend's three games in the Big Ten-Big East Challenge, and junior left-hander Kyle Parker will get the ball in Friday's opener against Ohio State in St. Petersburg.
Parker, a Newsome graduate, will be going for his first career win, having an 0-3 record in 14 appearances (including five starts) in his first two seasons. Prado said he'll turn to newcomer Joe Lovecchio, a junior righthander who started his college career at Miami, on Saturday against Michigan State in Clearwater, with the Bulls' likely ace, senior lefty Andrew Barbosa getting the nod on Sunday against Minnesota in St. Pete.
Prado has been pleased with the recovery of three key pitchers who missed nearly all or all of 2011 with injuries -- Barbosa, starter Derrick Stultz and likely closer Ray Delphey. All are available this weekend but will be limited initially so as not to risk any additional injuries. ... Read more
USF's Prado encouraged by recoveries, newcomers
USF baseball doesn't start practice in full until Jan. 27, with the Bulls' season starting in six weeks on Feb. 17, but coach Lelo Prado is encouraged by the progress he's seen on two fronts in the offseason: the recovery of key players from significant injuries, and the progress of several newcomers who could help the Bulls in 2012.
USF has been picked fourth in the Big East in a preseason vote of league coaches -- a solid endorsement for a team that missed the eight-team Big East tournament in Clearwater last spring.
"I'm not going to guess at what place we'll finish, but our ultimate goal is to win the Big East championship," Prado said. "The returning players have worked real hard all season, all fall. If they continue to practice and keep that same attitude, we'll be happy at the end of the year. They've done everything we've asked." ... Read more
USF baseball picked to finish fourth in Big East
USF baseball, which failed to make the eight-team Big East tournament last season, will face higher expectations in 2012, as the Bulls have been picked to finish fourth out of 12 teams in the preseason poll of league coaches released by the conference on Wednesday.
The Bulls, who went 25-29 overall and 13-14 in Big East play last season, are hopeful of having three pitchers back from significant injuries -- Andrew Barbosa, Derrick Stultz and Ray Delphey -- who missed all or nearly all of last season. St. John's, Louisville and Connecticut earned the top three spots in the Big East poll.
Baseball season is just six weeks away, with USF opening its 2012 season on Feb. 17 against Ohio State in the Big Ten/Big East Challenge in St. Petersburg. The Bulls will also play a spring training exhibition against the New York Yankees on March 2 at Steinbrenner Field. Coach Lelo Prado earned a three-year extension in the offseason despite the fact the Bulls haven't made the NCAA Tournament in his five seasons. ... Read more
Baseball coach Prado gets new deal through 2014
USF has extended the contract of baseball coach Lelo Prado three years, keeping the Tampa native with the Bulls through the 2014 season.
Prado, who came to USF in 2006, has a 150-139 record in five seasons with the Bulls, though his teams have finished with losing records the last two seasons, failing to make the Big East tournament for the first time in 2011. USF opened its new baseball stadium this spring, and despite the lackluster success of the team, ranked among the national leaders in attendance thanks to excitement around the new facilities. ... Read more
USF baseball will play Yankees in spring training
USF baseball will get a major-league test in March as the Bulls will play an exhibition against the New York Yankees at Steinbrenner Field on March 2 to open spring training for the 27-time World Champions.
"We're excited -- it's a neat thing for the kids to be able to play against Derek Jeter and (Jorge) Posada and A-Rod and all those guys," coach Lelo Prado said. "Last time we did it it was a great day for our kids, just being around a team like that for a few hours."
It's the second time in four years the Bulls will get to face the Yankees -- the Bulls took an 11-4 loss in 2008, the highlight of which was pinch-hitter Eric Baumann hitting a grand slam off reliever Kei Igawa.
USF and the Yankees have had a long relationship, with the Tampa Yankees playing at USF's old Red McEwen Field in 1994-95 with current stars Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera among those playing on campus while Legends Field was being built. Former Yankees star Tino Martinez is Prado's brother-in-law and has worked as a volunteer assistant with the Bulls.
USF baseball adds two-way player from Boston
USF baseball has picked up a late addition to its incoming recruiting class, as Devin Perry, a 6-foot-3 right-hander from Massachusetts opted to enroll at USF last week after deciding not to honor a commitment to Boston College.
"He had his roots down in Tampa and in his heart, I think he always wanted to go back down south," his high school coach, Rick Foresteire. "He was very impressed with USF and the new facility they've built."
Perry, who attended Tampa Prep as a freshman, had chosen Boston College as a high school junior because the coach there had agreed to allow him to be an everyday player despite his strength being as a pitcher, with a fastball in the low 90s and a solid breaking ball. When coach Mik Aoki left to be head coach at Notre Dame last year, he had other offers from elite programs like USC, Duke and Michigan, but not with the chance to play and pitch.
USF coach Lelo Prado will give Perry that chance this spring -- Foresteire said he'll get a chance at third base or a corner outfield spot, as well as working as a reliever, much in the same role Junior Carlin played for the Bulls last season. ... Read more
No surprise, but Bulls lose Fernandez to Marlins
It was a loss USF's baseball staff had conceded long before the draft, but Bulls signee Jose Fernandez signed with the Marlins just before the deadline Monday night, earning a signing bonus of $2 million.
Here's our full story from the Times' Eduardo A. Encina -- as he writes, even if Fernandez hadn't signed with the Marlins, he likely was headed to a junior college, which would have kept the 2012 draft in play. It's the second August loss for coach Lelo Prado, who had hoped to land junior college slugger Roderick "Rock" Shoulders, but saw the 25th-round pick sign with the Cubs for what he said was "third-round money."
Big East baseball back in Clearwater for 2012-13
Good news for USF baseball, as the Big East announced Thursday that the league's postseason tournament will return to Bright House Field in Clearwater for the next two seasons.
The tournament has found a home in Clearwater, playing there in 2006 in USF's first year in the league, then for the past three years at the spring training home of the Philadelphia Phillies. It's a natural advantage for the Bulls -- that is, if USF can finish in the top eight standings and earn a spot in the tournament, something they failed to do this past season.
USF baseball welcomes 16 newcomers for 2012
It's rare to have such a real drought of newsy things to post on the blog -- lots of questions, just not a lot of answers, with USF football coaches on vacation this week. I do want to catch up on baseball, since USF was kind enough to give us a list of the 15 newcomers who started classes with the summer B semester last week. (Alas, couldn't get the same on football.)
We've mentioned most of these in some form or another -- six of them were among the signees USF announced way back in December: Dunedin right-hander Mikey Clarkson, Longwood outfielder Austin Lueck, Bartow IF/OF Buddy Putnam, Plant righty Max Rowe (who is 6-foot-6), New Smyrna Beach catcher Blake Sydeski and Leesburg infielder Kyle Teaf. And there's junior college slugger Roderick "Rock" Shoulders, who still hasn't made a final decision on a contract offer from the Cubs but is taking summer classes with the intent of playing with the Bulls in the spring. ... Read more
Quackenbush first Bulls rookie to make pro debut
The six USF baseball players drafted earlier this month have all signed and been matched up with their new minor-league teams, and closer Kevin Quackenbush was the first of the class to make his pro debut, earning a save with a scoreless inning for the Eugene Emeralds of the Northwest League on Friday night.
Quackenbush, an eight-round pick of the Padres, has added a second scoreless ninth in a non-save situation Monday, giving him three strikeouts in his first two pro innings as the only USF rookie in the Northwest League ranks.
The Frontier League opened its season Monday, but neither of the two Bulls there have made their debuts -- shortstop Sam Mende is with the Casper Ghosts in Wyoming and lefty Junior Carlin with the Orem Owlz in Utah. Same for pitcher Randy Fontanez, awaiting his debut with the Brooklyn Cyclones of the New York-Penn League, and reliever Jimmy Moran, who will start his pro career with the Arizona League Reds. ... Read more
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