#5 Tampa Completes Series Sweep of Saint Leo

Box score

SAINT LEO, Fla. - The fifth-ranked University of Tampa baseball team (34-7-1, 13-5 SSC) came from behind to win the first game of a doubleheader against Saint Leo University (26-19, 7-12 SSC) 16-11, and recovered to win game two 9-8 after a six run sixth inning by the Lions. The Spartans improve to 34-7-1 overall this season, and take the lead in the Sunshine State Conference with the series sweep of Saint Leo.

Jesus Barroso led the Spartans with nine hits in 13 at-bats in the twin bill, including a double, six RBI, and his first home run of the season in game two. Steven Broschofsky hit two home runs in the doubleheader, one in each game to tie Jose Jimenez for the team lead with five long balls on the season. Broschofsky also drove in six runs in the two games, and also picked up his seventh double of the season. Nolan Brannon added a 3-7 day for the Spartans including a home run, a double and five RBI.

Josh Bowman got the start in game one and pitched the first two and two-thirds innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits while walking two and striking out one. Rick Hudson picked up his third win of the season in game one, throwing two and two-thirds innings in relief of Bowman, allowing two runs on six hits, striking out two and walking none.

Scott Chapman made his 10th start of the season in game two of the doubleheader, not allowing a run until the sixth inning, lasting five and one-third innings while allowing five runs (four earned) on six hits. The senior also walked one and struck out four. Daniel Foltz threw the last two innings to pick up his sixth win of the season, allowing two runs on three hits, walking two and striking out three.

Saint Leo opened the scoring in game one with three runs in the second inning, sending 10 men to the plate and pushing three men across to open an early 3-0 advantage. Tampa responded with four runs of its own in the top of the third on a pair of home runs, a three-run shot by Brannon and a solo round-tripper by Broschofsky to take the lead at 4-3.

The teams traded runs in the bottom of the third and the top of the fourth, leaving the Spartans ahead 5-4 heading into the fifth. The Lions scored twice in the bottom of the fifth to reclaim the lead at 6-5 on a solo home run by Brandin Daniel and a double play groundout.

Tampa's bats came to life in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings as the Spartans scored 11 runs in the three frame span to open a 16-6 lead. The Spartans got two runs on an RBI double by Broschofsky in the sixth, a bases clearing triple by Ryan Williams in the seventh, and a two-run single by Barroso in the eighth.

The Spartans struck first in game two of the doubleheader, tagging the Saint Leo starter for three runs in the top of the first on two hits, including RBI singles by Williams and Barroso to take an early 3-0 lead. Tampa held the lead until the sixth when it scored two more runs to take a 5-0 lead on a two-run home run by Broschofsky, his second of the day.

Saint Leo stormed back to take a 6-5 lead with six runs in the bottom of the sxith inning on six hits and one error by the Spartans, highlighted by a pair of two-run doubles by Jonathan Duncan and Anthony Santa. Tampa then tied the game with a run in the top of the seventh to send the game into extra innings with the teams even at 6-6.

The Spartans and the Lions traded runs in the ninth inning on a solo home run by Barroso, and an RBI single by Duncan to send the game into the 10th tied at 7-7. Tampa took the lead for good in the top of the 10th on a sacrifice fly by Brenton Cianci and an RBI single by Barrroso, his sixth RBI of the day. Saint Leo made a push in the bottom of the inning with a solo home run by Bobby Munoz, before the Spartan bullpen struck out the final two batters to complete the sweep.

Tampa is off until next weekend when it travels to Winter Park to take on Rollins College in a Sunshine State Conference series. The first game of the series is scheduled for 7 pm on Friday night, with a doubleheader to follow on Saturday at 1 pm.