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By Times staff and wire reports
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 14, 2001
TAMPA -- Stetson used three singles and a walk in the first inning to score all it needed and beat South Florida 6-2 Tuesday afternoon in the Bulls' home opener.
USF couldn't do much with 12 hits after falling behind 5-0 in the third.
"After the first inning we pitched well enough to win the game," USF coach Eddie Cardieri said. "We did not play a bad game of baseball. We made one error and it cost us a run, but we outhit them 12-7. We need to figure out how to use our 12 hits."
Stetson jumped on starter Shannon Royal, loading the bases with no outs in the first when Jeff Christy walked and Josh Laws and Frank Corr followed with singles. Vinnie Rinaldi brought two home with a single to right-centerfield and scored on Andy Wilson's sacrifice fly.
Royal faced seven batters and was lifted after walking the leadoff hitter in the second. He allowed four runs on three hits, two walks and a strikeout.
USF had a chance to get back into the game early. Trailing 5-0, Myron Leslie opened the third with a single to rightfield. With two outs, the Bulls had consecutive singles from Evan Brannon, Daniel Boyd and Mike Eylward, who drove in Leslie. But Stetson's Jason Oglesby struck out designated hitter Chris Cuccia to end the threat.
"That was a critical situation in the game and Oglesby pitched Cuccia very tough," Cardieri said. "He put the ball right on the outside corner and threw that full-count breaking ball."
The Bulls threatened again when Evan Brannon opened the eighth with a single through the left side and scored on Eylward's double down the leftfield line. Cuccia singled to put runners on the corners with one out, but Ben Drawdy and Mike Barclay both flew out to rightfield.
FSU: Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Chris Weinke (3.88 GPA in sports management), Justin Amman (3.75 in food and nutrition), safety Chris Hope (3.73 in communications) and offensive linemen Jarad Moon (3.63 in sports management) headline the all-Atlantic Coast Conference academic football team. The Seminoles tied Clemson and Maryland for the most members on the 25-man team.
LOUISVILLE: Coach John L. Smith named former Minnesota linebackers coach Steve Stripling as defensive line coach.
MIAMI: Florida high school star Jovonny Ward changed his mind after giving a verbal commitment to Pitt and signed a letter of intent with hometown Miami. Ward, from Northwestern High School, is rated as one of the best defensive backs in Florida but has not qualified academically.
OHIO ST.: Joe Daniels, Cincinnati's offensive coordinator and assistant head coach, was named quarterbacks and receivers coach.
FSU: The LSU women won 4-3, beating the host Seminoles for the first time since 1990.
USF: The men's team finished tied for third in the 16-team Beau Rivage Classic in Gulfport, Miss. Sam Houston State won the 54-hole event with 889.
- Staff writer Brian Landman contributed to this report.