South Florida Bulls
Overall Rank: #22
Conference Rank: #1 American
South Florida is coming off of a 41-win season in 2019 where they won the American Athletic Conference regular season title with a 17-4 conference record. In the postseason, South Florida was sent to a very difficult Tallahassee Regional where the Bulls went 1-2 as they split two games with South Carolina and lost once to Florida State. Looking back, one has to wonder if only playing one game in the conference tournament cost South Florida a little bit of its rhythm prior to the NCAA Tournament last May.
2019: 41-19, 17-4
2019 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Ken Eriksen
Key Departed Players:
Lindsey Devitt, INF, .274 BA, 8 HR, 21, 13 SB
Macy Cook, C, .262 BA, 5 HR, 42 RBI
Nicole Doyle, P, 2.97 ERA, 11-9 W/L, 129.2 IP, 58 BB, 79 SO
Cheyenne Eggens, P, 3.05 ERA, 5-2 W/L, 64.1 IP, 11 BB, 36 SO
Key Returning Players:
Annamarie Bruni, OF, .386 BA, 2 HR, 17 RBI, 33 SB
Bethaney Keen, INF, .282 BA, 4 HR, 37 RBI
Megan Pierro, INF, .265 BA, 0 HR, 12 RBI, 6 SB
Meghan Sheehan, OF, .259 BA, 0 HR, 10 RBI, 10 SB
Georgina Corrick, P, 1.14 ERA, 25-6 W/L, 214.1 IP, 55 BB, 260 SO
Projection:
Georgina Corrick will be the ace of the pitching staff and is expected to be one of the best pitchers in all of college softball in 2020. Corrick was dominant in 2019 as she went 25-6, with a 1.14 earned run average, 55 walks, 260 strikeouts in 214.1 innings of work. There will be competition for the second starting pitcher spot as the Bulls do have to replace Nicole Doyle and Cheyenne Eggens, who combined for 16 wins and threw 194 innings between them. Vivian Ponn, Brittany Hook and Jordan Kadlub will be competing for that number two starter slot along with sophomore Camryn Dolby. Annamarie Bruni will lead a balanced lineup that can punish you with speed. Bruni hit .386, with two homeruns, 17 runs batted in and 33 stolen bases. Meghan Sheehan and Megan Pierro also provide quality speed as they had 16 stolen bases between them. Bethany Keen will provide some power as she hit four homeruns and drove in 37 runs last season. The schedule is always challenging for South Florida as they will play Michigan and Florida during the opening weekend of the season. The St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational will also provide a huge test for the Bulls as they will face Oklahoma State, Alabama, Texas Tech, Georgia, and defending national champion UCLA. There will be additional games against Tennessee and Florida as the season progresses to round a very strong out of conference schedule. The biggest conference series should end up taking place at the end of April when South Florida hits the road to take on Tulsa. If the Bulls can find some pitching behind Corrick and a get a little boost offensively power wise, they will win the American Athletic Conference title once again.
Projected Postseason: NCAA Softball Tournament
