In their home opener, the USF St. Petersburg baseball club (2-3) defeated the Clearwater Christian Cougars, 6-5.
Senior pitcher Jody Odom Jr. led the Bulls to victory after relieving starting pitcher Jason Smith at the top of the second inning.
Odom stayed on the mound for the remaining eight innings and allowed two hits, four walks and no runs. Pitching wasn’t his only game; he also helped the offense by going 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI triple.
After the game, Odom said he did not expect to get called to the mound that early, but is always ready to contribute. “When I get in a groove, I can keep going,” Odom said.
Due to Odom’s performance, the Kate Tiedemann College of Business will donate $500 to the Military Veterans MBA scholarship fund, which occurs every time a club pitcher totals at least five strikeouts in a home game.
In support of the baseball club, the Tavern gave out free food and refreshments to the first 50 USFSP students who showed up to the game.
But despite the home crowd advantage, the Cougars put the pressure on the Bulls early, scoring all five of their runs in the top of the second inning against Smith.
During his brief outing, Smith hit the leadoff hitter, committed an error and then allowed three straight hits before being pulled from the game.
Down 5-3, the Bulls scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, including senior Justin Hand’s line-drive RBI that sparked the momentum shift. During the Bulls’ comeback, the Cougars threw a wild pitch and had another throwing error, which led to runs for the Bulls.
The Bulls’ patience while batting paid off as they were walked 10 times. This amounted to multiple scoring opportunities by way of sacrifice bunts, stolen bases and wild pitches.
The teams combined for 11 hits (Bulls 5, Cougars 6). Both team’s base coaches allowed their runners to attempt multiple steals throughout the game.
Jeremy Berger, the club team’s president and coach, warmed up in the bullpen twice but allowed Odom, who struck out the final two batters, to finish the game.
Odom said he has high expectations for the team and the club has a lot of new talent coming in that will help contribute.
The club’s next home game will take place at 3 p.m. on Oct. 18 at Huggins-Stengel Field against USF Tampa’s club baseball team in “The Battle for the Bay.”
