South Florida defeated No. 13 Maryland on the opening day of the 2023 baseball season Friday, February 17. 

Friday, February 17
Memphis 7, Samford 4 - Box Score
UCF 22, Siena 5 - Box Score
South Florida 8, No. 13 Maryland 7 - Box Score
Georgia State 12, Cincinnati 2 - Box Score
Cal 7, Houston 0 - Box Score
Long Beach State 2, Wichita State 0 - Box Score
UC Irvine 3, Tulane 0 - Box Score

Memphis 7, Samford 4 - Box Score
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis baseball team came from behind to defeat Samford, 7-4, on Opening Day at FedExPark Avron Fogelman Field on Friday afternoon, giving head coach Kerrick Jackson his first win as a Tiger. 
 
On the second at-bat of the game for the Tigers, senior Anthony Hansen homered down the right-field line to end a 10-pitch battle that saw him foul off six-straight pitches. It was Hansen's first at bat and home run in a Memphis uniform and got the scoring started early for the Tigers.

Six different Tigers scored a run in the win.
 
Senior pitcher Dalton Fowler got the start on the mound and threw 4.2 innings, striking out six and allowing three earned runs on four hits. Redshirt-freshman pitcher Glenn Green III was awarded the win (0.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER).

UCF 22, Siena 5 - Box Score
ORLANDO, Fla. - The Knights had an offense-filled opening night as they defeated Siena 22-5 at John Euliano Park. UCF combined for 22 hits, including five players with multi-hit games and two with multi-homer games. 22 runs marks the most in Opening Knight history and the most since March 14, 2010 against Hartford.
 
After exchanging two scoreless innings, the Saints took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third on a Gavin Thornburn home run just over the left field fence. 
 
The Knights returned the favor in the bottom half of the inning. After a Corey Robinson single and stolen base, Nick Romano stepped up to the plate with one on and two out. He promptly launched a two-run shot to left center field, scoring Robinson from second to give the Knights the 2-1 lead. Tom Josten was hit by the pitch to bring up Ben McCabe to continue the inning. McCabe also hit one out of the park, another two-run homer to extend the lead to three. 
 
The Knights' two home run third inning was their first multi-homer inning on Opening Day since 2018. 
 
Romano and McCabe were at it again in the fifth for the Knights. After Robinson reached on an error to begin the inning, Romano followed up with a two-run shot to right center, his second two-run homer of the night to put the team up 6-1 on the Saints. With one out in the inning, McCabe hit the team's fourth homer of the night, a solo shot, to put the Knights up six. 
 
McCabe's single in the seventh gave him his fifth hit of the night. He is the first Knight to have five hits in a game since Ryan Crile in 2016. 

South Florida 8, No. 13 Maryland 7 - Box Score
TAMPA – Sophomore Bobby Boser hit a pair of towering home runs on Friday night and transfer Travis Sankovich  tallied three hits and three RBI in his debut as the University of South Florida Bulls opened the 2023 campaign with an 8-7 victory over No. 13 Maryland.

A crowd of 1,647 was on hand at USF Baseball Stadium for the first tilt of a three-game series.

Hunter Mink got the opening night nod on the mound and recorded the win. H. Mink struck out the first two Terrapin batters he faced of the game in a scoreless first inning, and Boser connected on his first longball of the contest in the bottom of the first frame to give South Florida an early 3-0 advantage.

Maryland answered back quickly to tie the game at 3-3 in the top of the second before a two-out double by Sankovich put the Bulls back in front 4-3 in the third.

Six of USF's eight runs on the night came via two-out hits.

Boser left the ballpark once more off Maryland's All-American pitcher in the sixth inning, this time to the opposite field, to extend the Bulls' lead to 5-3. Sankovich's biggest hit of the night came with two outs again in the bottom of the seventh and chased home two runs as USF's lead swelled to 8-3.

The potent Terrapin lineup did not go down quietly though, as an eighth inning grand slam suddenly made it a one-run game.

Tanner Mink remained poised on the mound after giving up the slam and came back in the bottom of the ninth to record the final three outs of the ballgame.

Georgia State 12, Cincinnati 2 - Box Score
ATLANTA, Ga. – The University of Cincinnati baseball team fell to Georgia State in its season opener on Friday evening at the GSU Baseball Complex in Atlanta.  
 
Georgia State scored six runs in the seventh inning to take control of the game on the way to a 12-2 victory.
 
For the Bearcats (0-1), sophomore right-handed pitcher Garrett Harker, making his first career Friday start, allowed only one run on five hits, and struck out a career-high seven with three walks in five innings. Senior Jackson Murphy (0-1) took the loss on the mound for Cincinnati.

Redshirt junior catcher Alec Jones went 2-for-2 with a walk and two runs scored. Sophomore infielder Lauden Brooks went 1-for-3 with a walk and RBI. Freshman Kyle Schupmann earned the start at third base in his first collegiate game.

Cal 7, Houston 0 - Box Score
HOUSTON – Houston Baseball could not solve Cal starter Ian May who tossed 8.0 scoreless innings, leading the Golden Bears to a 7-0 victory over the Cougars in the season opener Friday night from Sanders field at Schroeder Park.

First basemen Alex Lopez led the Cougars at the plate, finishing 2 for 3.

Houston starter Cade Citelli (0-1) retired the side in the first three innings, with five strikeouts before running into trouble with Cal's offense. The right-hander allowed three runs on as many hits alongside five strikeouts and two walks in 4.0 innings.

Ian May (1-0) earned the win for Cal with seven strikeouts without allowing a run in eight innings.

Long Beach State 2, Wichita State 0 - Box Score
LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Wichita State lost its season opener at Long Beach State, 2-0.

Graham earned the win for UC Irvine, throwing seven innings of scoreless ball with eight strikeouts.

Clark Candiotti took the loss for Wichita State, allowing two runs in four innings.

UC Irvine 3, Tulane 0 - Box Score
IRVINE, Calif. -- Tulane dropped its season opener at UC Irvine, 3-0.

David Vizcaino threw 5.2 innings with five strikeouts and no runs allowed to earn the win for Long Beach State.

Five Green Wave recorded hits, including Gavin Schulz, who doubled.

Dylan Carmouche took the loss, allowing one run with six strikeouts in 4.2 innings of work.