The Mitch Hannahs era is off to a good start for the USF baseball team. The Bulls rallied past Iowa 9-5 on Sunday to take two out of three from the Hawkeyes to open the season.
USF won Hannahs’ first game as the Bulls’ coach 5-4 on Friday when Ryan Pruitt hit a two-out grand slam in the seventh inning. USF trailed 2-1 then, but Pruitt’s bomb gave them the cushion to open the 60th season of USF baseball with a win.
Iowa won Saturday’s game 8-2.
On Sunday, the Bulls had to overcome a two-run deficit entering the last of the sixth. Marcus Brodil opened the inning with a home run and then tied the game when Iowa walked in a run.
USF took command when two bases-loaded errors on the same play by Iowa led to three more runs.
Hannahs was hired in June as the eighth head coach in program history. Under Billy Mohl, the Bulls had finished eighth or lower in the American Athletic Conference for three consecutive seasons.
Hannahs came to USF after 11 seasons at Indiana State, his alma mater. He had 355 wins there, guiding the Sycamores to the NCAA Super Regional in 2023.
Hannahs wants the Bulls to, in his words, “play mad.”
“Tom Brady played mad his entire career,’’ Hannahs said. “For young players, until you learn to come to practice with the mentality of (going through) a five-game losing streak, you don’t (have the mentality) you need to beat really good teams on your schedule.
“I think it’s just simply feeling like you need to prove yourself every day. That’s the reality of every player. Yesterday’s gone. Today, I’ve got to prove myself again. And our team has to prove itself day-in, day-out. It’s the mark of a good club that you come to the park every day with that mindset.”
The Bulls will host Florida State, a really good team, at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
Softball Bulls are on a roll
USF took its seventh consecutive win Sunday, defeating Penn State 1-0 to win the Fonseca Memorial Tournament at the USF Softball Stadium.
Payton Dixon had her second complete-game shutout in five starts for USF. The Bulls got the only run they needed in the fourth inning when Kathy Garcia-Soto singled home Alanah Rivera.
The Bulls improved to 10-2 overall.
BULLS WIN‼️
— USF Softball (@USFSoftball) February 16, 2025
The Bulls are your Fonseca Memorial Tournament Champions🏆#HornsUp🤘 pic.twitter.com/GrOORhjuGv
Since losing 8-0 to 3rd-ranked Florida on February 9, USF has scored 57 runs while allowing only 12. During this stretch, the Bulls took two wins over Florida Gulf Coast, Loyola-Chicago, and Penn State. They have a single win over St. John’s.
Four of the wins were by the 8-run mercy rule.
USF is off until Wednesday, when it will host Louisville. The South Florida Showdown starts Friday at USF, and the Bulls will have games against 22nd-ranked Michigan, Louisville, Wisconsin, Kent State, and Troy.
Unbeaten women’s lacrosse gets ready for the Gators
The 5th-ranked Florida Gators are next up on the schedule for the lacrosse team, which took its third win in as many games Friday 17-7 over Lehigh.
The Bulls led 8-5 at the half but dominated in the final two periods, outscoring the visitors 9-2 to pull away.
It’s quite a start for the fledgling team, playing its first season ever. The Bulls have yet to trail this season, but it will be a tall task to keep that going against the Gators. Florida is 2-1 and coming off a 14-9 loss to 3rd-ranked North Carolina.
The game is Tuesday at 6 p.m. at USF’s Corbett Stadium.