TAMPA, FL – Florida A&M (15-9, 5-1 MEAC) dropped the third game of the series to the South Florida Bulls (22-3) by a score of 7-1 Sunday afternoon at USF Baseball Stadium. It was the first weekend series loss for the Rattlers in the 2017 season.
Ryan Valdes (4-0) gave the Bulls a strong start, allowing only one run and scattering seven hits through five innings with six strikeouts. The South Florida bullpen took over in the sixth and cruised the rest of the way. Noah Yager and Mark Savarese combined to throw four shutout innings and allowed only one base runner.
McCarty helped himself in the top of the first inning, driving in the game's first run on an RBI double down the right field line. John Capra worked a leadoff walk, and Ben Ellzey singled through the right side with one out to put runners on the corners. McCarty then drove in Capra from third with his third double of the year to give the Rattlers a 1-0 advantage.
Florida A&M had a chance to extend the lead in the top of the third inning, but stranded a runner on third with no outs. Brian Davis led off with a walk and advanced to third on Ellzey's single through the right side. McCarty popped out to the infield and Ryan Valdes recorded back-to-back strikeouts to escape the jam.
USF tied the game with an unearned run in the bottom of the third inning. The Bulls had runners on the corners with one out after singles by Andres Leal and Nick Cerelli. Leal came around to score on a passed ball, knotting the score at 1-1.
Florida A&M looked like they were going to answer in the top of the fourth after Kaycee Reese led off with a walk and Eric Blanc, Jr. singled through the right side, but the Rattlers were unable to advance the runners as Valdes retired the next three hitters to work out of the inning.
The Bulls threatened to take the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning but McCarty managed to work out of trouble. After two walks to start the inning, USF had runners on first and second with no outs. Willis McDaniel then made a great diving grab in left center for the first out, and McCarty induced a ground ball double play to retire the side.
South Florida took the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning, scoring two runs on three hits. Leal doubled on a ground ball that hopped over Eric Blanc, Jr.'s head at first base to start the inning. A passed ball advanced the runner to third before Chris Chatfield delivered an RBI single through the right side of the infield. Chatfield advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, then came around to score on an RBI single by Coco Montes to give USF a 3-1 lead.
The Bulls added a pair of runs in both the sixth and seventh inning for a final score of 7-1.
Florida A&M starting pitcher Aubrey McCarty suffered the loss, evening his record at 2-2. The junior allowed four earned runs on six hits and four walks in 5.1 innings.
McCarty and Ben Ellzey were the only Rattlers with multiple hits on the afternoon. McCarty finished 2-for-4 with an RBI double while Ellzey was 3-for-4.
FAMU returns to the friendly confines of Moore-Kittles Field on Wednesday, March 29th to face the Alabama State Hornets at 5:00 PM. The Rattlers are 12-3 at home so far in 2017.
As always, fans can follow Rattler Baseball on Twitter @BaseballFAMU and on Facebook.
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