TAMPA, Fla. – Mitch Hannahs wants his players to arrive at practice in a foul mood, to step outside their comfort zone, take chances and make sure there is nothing left in the tank at the end of a game. That’s a good recipe for a program that has chronically underachieved.
“Until you learn to come to practice with the mentality of a five-game losing streak, you don’t go at it like you need to (in order) to beat good teams on your schedule,” said the first-year USF baseball coach, who arrived in Tampa after making five NCAA tourney appearances and winning 355 games in 11 seasons at Indiana State. “We have to have players that are (thinking) on the level of the coaching staff, not just taking orders. I think when you get to that point, you have a really good club.”
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The Bulls open their 60th season on the diamond Friday evening (6:30) against visiting Iowa. It will be the guess of any Bulls fan as to the product that will take the field against the Hawkeyes, though an all-out effort is sure to be on tap.
“There is nothing fake, there is nothing sugarcoated,” said junior Rafael Bethancourt, a preseason All-American Conference selection at DH, on Hannahs’ approach. “Everything is the way it is supposed to be. Really an old-school guy able to use new-school learnings and bring everything together to be the best coach for this team right now.”
Senior left fielder Marcus Brodil, who hit a team-leading .319 a year ago, feels as though Hannahs has brought a breath of fresh air to a clubhouse that might have had a couple of players with ‘me’ on the front of their jersey instead of ‘USF.’
“I feel like everyone on this team plays for the team and not just themselves,” said the Dunedin native. “We have had talent, but some people were just about themselves and didn’t really have that team impact.”
Hannahs reeled in about a dozen players from the portal, including his top two starting pitchers: lefty and Seminole native Corey Braun (Ole Miss) and righthander James Hill (College of Central Florida). Braun did not play with the Rebels last season after transferring from Santa Fe College in Gainesville, where he went 7-1 with a 3.78 ERA in 64 innings (12 starts) in 2023. Hill, a Trinity native and Mitchell High product, won eight games in a three-year tenure at CF interrupted by Tommy John surgery.
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Other transfers include Gaither grad and first baseman Sebastien Greico (Florida A&M) and infielder Alex Brazer (Eckerd). The former set an FAMU single-season mark with 17 homers in 2023 and the latter was named the Sunshine State Conference’s freshman of the year after hitting .311 for the Tritons in 2024.
“I am confident with the guys that we have and I am confident with what we can do,” said Bethancourt, who battled through injuries last season to hit .302. “It’s basically a new team, a fresh slate.”
Following a three-game weekend series with Iowa, No. 9 Florida State visits USF for a single game next Tuesday at 5 p.m.
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