The No. 25 Bulls opened up the Gainesville Regional of this year’s tournament with a 2-1 upset of No. 22 North Carolina on Friday. The underdog theme continued on Day One when unranked Florida Atlantic was able to knock off the favored University of Florida on its home field.
Both of Friday’s winning teams hit the field Saturday to battle for the opportunity to advance in the double-elimination tournament.
Junior Bree Spence got the start for the Bulls and allowed three hits in 3 1/3 innings before being relieved by freshman Cristi Ecks. Ecks finished the game and earned the win for the Bulls after pitching 3 2/3 hitless innings.
FAU pitcher Jen Musillo made her first back-to-back start of the season, as she pitched every inning for the Owls against USF after defeating Florida. The junior played valiantly against the Bulls, scattering only three hits in six innings but also allowed the only run of the game when senior Christie Chapman reached for an outside curve ball and sent it over the fence to give the Bulls a 1-0 lead.
“I thought both Musillo and our pitching staff threw a great game today,” USF coach Ken Eriksen said. “We got kind of fortunate that Christie (Chapman) stayed on a drop outside and sent it the whole way.”
Late in the game it looked like Chapman might have a multi-home run outing, but the shortstop’s deep fly ball dropped too early and was caught by the left fielder at the warning track. In the postgame press conference Chapman insisted it would have been another homer in a different setting.
“I thought it had a chance,” Chapman said. “If we were at home it would have been out. These 200-feet fences are killing me.”
Two-straight one-run games for the Bulls, who are in control of their regional, means they have to lose twice Sunday to not advance to the Super Regional. And if they win at least three after that, they'll be headed to the college World Series.
Essentially, the Bulls could be facing FAU again, which looks to be facing Florida in the late game that started at 5 p.m. If USF happens to make the Super Regionals, it could play the No. 1 team in the land, UCLA.
I'll be there for the game, which has the first pitch set for about noon. Look for more blogs Sunday and game stories in the Oracle on Monday
Eric Moeller
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