The USF baseball team has never been in better form heading into conference play.

The Bulls are at 23-3, the best record they've ever had at this point in the season, as they head to New Orleans to take on Tulane in a three-game series to open their American Athletic Conference schedule.

Consider this: if the Bulls beat Tulane Friday, they’ll already equal their win total from 2016- with more than 30 games left to play!

It's easy to see why the Bulls feel there’s something special taking shape on the diamond in Tampa.

"We always knew we had a good team, but it’s nice to see those wins," USF junior shortstop and Steinbrenner High School graduate Kevin Merrell said.  "It just builds confidence.  And with confidence comes- I think more and more wins."

"Being a senior, and you can tell it’s working out," senior righthanded pitcher Phoenix Sanders said.  "So again, it’s just awesome.  Great group of guys.  Great coaches.  We’re just having a lot of fun."

Head coach Mark Kingston is seeing his program ascending right before his eyes.

In his first season in 2015, Kingston guided the Bulls to their first NCAA tournament appearance in 13 years.

One top 10 recruiting class and two seasons later, USF is in position to make some noise on a national level.

"A lot of work’s been put into this in recruiting and practicing and the weight room," Kingston said.  "A lot of different things go into it.  So to see it start to come together as it has this year, we’re all pleased.  But obviously, we know there’s a long way to go still.  So we’re going to continue to work the plan and work hard every day."

The senior class, which had losing records two of the last three years, is enjoying this run.

It's featured a 19-game winning streak earlier this season (second longest in school history), including a win in Tallahassee over then-third ranked Florida State.

"We played really well that day," Sanders said.  "I think the pitchers threw a one hitter.  Which is phenominal.  We one-hit a top five team in the country.  That’s pretty amazing.  But it just kind of steamrolled us to say, hey, we’re this good."

USF's pitching staff ranked in the top five nationally in four major categories: strikeouts per nine innings (11.1- 1st), ERA (2.09- 3rd), hits allowed per nine innings (6.22- 4th), and WHIP (1.08- 5th).

S the Bulls are armed and ready to stay hot throughout conference play.