Suddenly, the USF baseball team's most inspirational player has become its most dominant one.
Since his father's funeral two Sunday ago, right-hander Peter Strzelecki has posted the Bulls' two best starting pitching efforts of 2017. The latest occurred Saturday in Storrs, Conn., where the junior recorded the team's first nine-inning complete game in nearly 14 months in a 2-0 victory against Connecticut.
"Pete had pinpoint control with all his pitches today," Bulls coach Mark Kingston said.
"Fastball was 89-90 (mph), and his slider and changeup really kept them off balance. He keeps getting better and better as the year goes on."
Strzelecki's effort came a day after the Bulls (39-12, 13-8) dropped both games of a double header against UConn (28-21, 12-9). In a best-case scenario, USF will exit the weekend with a one-game lead in the American Athletic Conference standings. At worst, it will be a game out of first.
Here are Strzelecki's totals in his last two starts:
IP-17.1
Hits-5
Earned runs-1
Walks-2
Strikeouts-18
ERA-0.49