TAMPA (April 4, 2023) – The University of South Florida (12-18) entered Tuesday night ranked 52nd in the NCAA in fielding percentage, but four errors led to three unearned runs and the Bulls dropped a 5-4 decision to the UNF Ospreys (16-13) in 10 innings at USF Baseball Stadium.
South Florida trailed 4-3 heading to the bottom of the ninth inning when a one-out triple by Rafael Betancourt gave the Bulls life. The tying run eventually crossed the plate on a wild pitch to force extra innings.
In the top of the 10th, USF’s fourth defensive miscue of the night ultimately led to the fifth UNF run.
Trailing 5-4, the Bulls once again put up a fight in the bottom of the 10th.
Nelson Rivera led off the inning and was robbed of an extra-base hit at the warning track. With one out, Joaquin Monque singled, and his pinch runner, Stanton Leuthner, moved into scoring position on a balk. A groundout moved Leuthner to third base with two outs.
Eric Snow who had already homered in the game in front of more than a dozen family members in attendance, stepped to the plate seeking his fourth hit of the evening with the tying run 90 feet away. Snow hit a high chopper to the UNF third baseman and after a headfirst slide at first base was called out on a bang-bang play that was reviewed and confirmed.
Monque hit his first home run of the season to give USF its only lead of the night, 1-0, in the bottom of the third inning. The Ospreys claimed a 3-1 lead in the top of the fourth with two of their runs being charged as unearned.
Snow’s home run in the bottom of the fourth made it a 3-2 ballgame and Bobby Boser tied the game with an infield single later in the frame.
UNF reclaimed a 4-3 lead in the top of the seventh inning before the Bulls rallied in the ninth.