TAMPA, Fla. – South Florida's Jevin Relaford knocked in the winning run in the bottom of the 10
th inning as the Bulls defeated Wichita State 7-6 on Friday night at USF Baseball Stadium.
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The Shockers (27-27, 11-15) rallied from a 4-0 deficit, scoring three times in the sixth and three more in the seventh to take a 6-4 lead, but South Florida (32-20, 11-15) answered with two in the home half of the seventh to tie the game and eventually force extras.
In the bottom of the tenth, consecutive singles and a walk loaded the bases with one out. Relaford then chopped a ground ball under the glove of shortstop
Alex Ulloa to plate the winning run for the Bulls.
For the second straight night, both starting pitchers dominated through the first four innings. Wichita State's
Caleb Reed allowed just one hit and two total baserunners in four scoreless frames, while South Florida's Michael Senay allowed just one hit of his own to preserve the scoreless tie. USF broke the standstill with a four-run top of the fifth, highlighted by back-to-back doubles from Jackson Mirza and Relaford that chased Reed from the game.
Trailing 4-0, WSU finally got to Senay in the sixth. They opened the inning with three straight singles, getting on the board when
Jayson Jones knocked a fly ball off the right field fence to score
Nico Rodriguez, who opened the inning with an infield hit. A wild pitch moved two runners into scoring position, and
Jack Quick roped an RBI single into center, followed by a
Jacob Gutierrez fielder's choice grounder that pulled the Shockers within 4-3.
The Shockers moved in front for the first time in the seventh.
Owen Washburn tied the game with a fielder's choice ground ball to first, then
Jacob Gutierrez slapped a two-out, two-run single to give WSU a 6-4 lead.
The advantage proved short-lived, however, as South Florida evened the game on a pinch-hit, two-run single from Jake Kulikowski in the bottom of the inning. The two teams traded zeroes for the next two innings until USF broke through in the 10th.
Brady Hamilton (3-7) took the loss for Wichita State, while Ethan Sutton (3-3) picked up the win for South Florida.
The Shockers and Bulls have moved up the final game of the series to a 12:00 pm CT first pitch on Saturday to conclude the regular season.
