If USF fans have opted out of paying attention to the NCAA baseball tournament, it's understandable. For the second time in three years, the Bulls didn't even qualify for the American Conference tournament that was played about 45 minutes from the USF campus.
You know who is in the NCAA regionals?
Little Rock, which is in the Hattiesburg regional final.
Milwaukee, which lost by the 10-run rule 10 times this season and was 22-31 overall entering the Horizon League tournament. The Panthers won that, and now are in the Auburn regional final.
USC Upstate finished third in the Big South Conference regular season but won the tournament and was sent to the Tuscaloosa regional, where it promptly shocked Oklahoma State.
You get the point. While no disrespect is intended for those teams, most people would agree that USF should be a superior program. The Tampa Bay area is swimming in baseball talent, so the rut the Bulls find themselves in should not happen.
The baseball Transfer Portal opens on June 1 and runs for 30 days. It will be interesting to see how many Bulls head for the exits, along with the possibility of staff changes by head coach Mitch Hannahs.
So far, there have been no confirmed reports of any moves, although Daniel Schlereth's personal account on X lists him as USF's former pitching coach. As of Sunday afternoon, he is still listed on the USF coaching staff page.
Don't be deceived by USF's 32-21 overall record. The fattened up on cupcakes at the start of the season and one point had an 18-3 record. That fell apart when the Bulls got into conference play.
They couldn't produce enough offense. Out of 10 conference teams, the Bulls were eighth in runs scored and last in home runs. Their pitching staff was ineffective too many times. There were injuries. There were late-game collapses.
And there were the inevitable questions about a void in team leadership after Hannahs had to replace pitchers Corey Braun, Bryce Archie and Austin Newton, who were all selected in the MLB draft. First baseman Sebastian Greico, who led the Bulls with 14 home runs last year, used up his eligibility
With 20 new players, including 11 freshnmen, perhaps some regression from last year's run to the conference tournament semifinals should have been expected.
One of those freshmen was pitcher Michael Senay, who was highly sought coming out of Orlando's East River High School and lived up to that billing with a strong debut season. He was recruited to USF by former head coach Billy Mohls, turning down offers from Florida State, Florida, UCF, Jacksonville, Stetson, Pittsburgh, and Florida Atlantic.
He told the Oracle -- USF's student news site -- that Schlereth, a former first-round MLB draft pick, was a big reason why he came to Tampa.
“I knew that if I can get the development I have now and the knowledge, I can definitely fit in here and do well,” Senay said.
Assuming Schlereth has taken his leave from USF, you have to wonder what Senay will do.
But in the meantime, fans are left with another unsatisfying season. Next season, Hannahs will be entering the third year of his original five-year contract. It's too early to say the heat is on him, but a season like the Bulls just had will at least raise some eyebrows.
That's especially true when teams like Milwaukee are still playing and celebrating while the Bulls sift through their wreckage.
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