Opening Day is here for Bulls

Posted Feb 19, 2010 by Scott Carter

Updated Feb 19, 2010 at 01:16 AM

The University of South Florida baseball team opens the 2010 season tonight at Florida. The Bulls, ranked No. 35 by College Baseball News, are expected to challenge for a Big East championship. The Tampa Tribune takes a look at the Bulls:

The head coach

Lelo Prado enters his fourth season at the helm, and his next win will be the 100th of his career at USF. Prado guided the Bulls to a 34-25 mark (18-9 in Big East) last season, leading the conference for much of the season before finishing second.

Prado has high expectations for the 2010 Bulls, which is his most experienced team since taking over the program in the summer of 2006.

“If we play the way we’re capable of playing, then we’ll be very happy at the end of the year,” Prado said Thursday. “It’s the best team I’ve had since I’ve been here.”

Start me up

They call Randy Fontanez Mr. Friday Night, which in college baseball means ace of the staff. A junior from Oviedo, Fontanez went 7-3 with a 3.09 ERA last season. Big East coaches named him the starting pitcher on the preseason All-Big East Team after Fontanez pitched a team-high 99 innings as a sophomore, striking out 54.

Fontanez, right, is scheduled to start tonight’s season opener at Florida. The Bulls’ rotation also includes former Alonso High pitcher Ray Delphey, a freshman who will be the No. 2 starter, while junior Derrick Stultz recovers from offseason shoulder surgery. Prado hopes to have Stultz back in time for conference play, but until then, he is confident Delphey and Co. can pick up the slack.

Junior lefty Andrew Barbosa, a 6-foot-9 former standout at Riverview, is likely the No. 3 starter. Teddy Kaufman and Adrian Puig are also candidates to start. Kevin Quackenbush returns as the team’s primary closer.

“Our pitching staff has a lot of good arms,” Prado said. “We don’t have to worry about where if one guy gets hurt, having a big problem.”

Taking their swings

Starting OF Junior Carlin sets the table for the lineup, coming off a season in which he led the Big East with a .471 average in conference play. Overall, Carlin hit .384 and drove in 27 runs.

As a freshman last season, former Clearwater Central Catholic standout Sam Mende, above, developed into one of the league’s top shortstops, hitting .319 with five homers and 37 RBIs. He also played a steady defense.

The outfield is perhaps the offense’s strength, where Carlin is joined by juniors Ryan Lockwood and Stephen Hunt, former teammates at Jesuit who quickly made an impact at USF.

Sophomore 1B Todd Brazeal, who played at Chamberlain, is a dangerous out in the middle of the lineup after batting .348 with five homers and 50 RBIs as a redshirt freshman. Behind the plate, junior-college transfer Eric Sim, who played at Colby Community College in Canada last season, takes over as the starter.

Staying focused

While Prado is optimistic that this is his best team, the Bulls face an unusual situation in that their home stadium - Red McEwen Field- will be replaced next season by a new 3,000-seat stadium. The Bulls will split most of this season’s home games among the University of Tampa, Steinbrenner Field and the Naimoli Complex in St. Petersburg.

“We’ve told them from the very beginning that this was going to happen,” Prado said. “We have to be mentally tougher because of that.”