TAMPA, Fla. – South Florida scored eight runs over their final three at-bats to rally past Wichita State 8-3 on Thursday afternoon at USF Baseball Stadium.

The Shockers (20-33) led 3-0 into the bottom of the fifth, but the Bulls (27-26) hit for the cycle in the inning, capped by a two-out, three-run homer off the bat of Drew Brutcher that gave South Florida a 4-3 lead. 

A sacrifice fly from Nelson Rivera and an RBI double from Bobby Boser extended the lead to 6-3, and Jackson Mayo put the game out of reach with a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth.

The Bulls bullpen was excellent, allowing just two hits and one unearned run over 6.1 innings. Brad Lord (3-7) earned the win with 3.1 innings of relief, then Joey Volini flipped a scoreless seventh before Hunter Mink earned his ninth save with two shutout frames.

The Shockers grabbed single runs in the second, third, and fifth innings. Ross Cadena got the scoring started with an RBI single, then Jordan Rogers plated a run with an RBI groundout. In the fifth, a USF error on a ground ball from Payton Tolle scored Brock Rodden for the 3-0 lead.

Caden Favors started for the Shockers and fired two hitless, scoreless innings. Jace Kaminska (3-8) breezed through the third and fourth, setting down the side in order before running into trouble in the fifth. Grayson Jones and Nate Adler were each tagged for a pair of runs in relief.

The Shockers and Bulls continue the series on Friday morning. First pitch from USF Baseball Stadium is scheduled for 8:00 am CT.