TAMPA, Fla. (Interstat) — Kaden Smith pitched four dominant shutout innings and Nate Earley delivered a two-run homer in the sixth as South Florida defeated Wichita State 4-1 on Thursday night at USF Baseball Stadium in an American Athletic Conference series opener.

Smith, making his second start of the season, did not allow a hit while striking out seven over four innings. The right-hander retired the first 10 batters he faced before issuing a walk in the second, then set down the side in order in the third and fourth. His performance came after a rough outing May 8 at Tulane, where he allowed six earned runs in four innings.

South Florida improved to 31-20 overall and evened its conference record at 11-11. Wichita State fell to 24-26 and 6-12 in league play.

The Bulls broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning. With two outs, Robert Pruitt tripled down the right-field line and scored on a single through the right side by Bradke Lohry.

Wichita State answered in the top of the sixth. Jayson Jones led off with a home run to right field, his first hit of the game, tying the score at 1-1.

The game turned decisively in the bottom of the sixth. South Florida’s Jackson Relaford singled with one out, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by shortstop Corbin Gonzalez. Earley then crushed a pitch from Wichita State starter Matthew Cuccias over the right-center field wall, giving the Bulls a 3-1 lead.

Cuccias, who entered with a 4.74 ERA, allowed four earned runs on three hits over 6 2/3 innings. He struck out five but walked two and hit a batter. The junior left-hander had been effective through five innings, allowing just one hit, but the Bulls capitalized in the sixth.

South Florida added an insurance run in the seventh. With two outs, Joseph Mirza singled and Relaford walked. Jonathan Lutz followed with a single to left-center, scoring Mirza to make it 4-1.

Brady Pacha relieved Cuccias and recorded the final out of the seventh. Amar Tsengeg pitched a scoreless eighth, striking out two.

South Florida used three relievers after Smith departed. Dominic Pontbriant threw three innings, allowing one run on one hit — Jones’ homer — while striking out two. Edwin Alicea pitched the final two innings, yielding a single but no runs and striking out one.

Wichita State managed only two hits in the game. Jones’ solo homer was the only extra-base hit. The Shockers stranded seven runners, including leaving the bases loaded in the fourth inning.

The Bulls collected six hits. Earley finished 1-for-4 with the homer and two RBIs. Lohry had one hit and an RBI, and Lutz drove in a run. Relaford scored twice.

The series continues Friday and Saturday at USF Baseball Stadium.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Wichita State 3, South Florida 2. Interstat’s ELO system had given South Florida a 56.60 percent probability to win.