Spartans Stride Past Stroudsburg for Weekday Win
TAMPA, Fla. - The University of Tampa baseball team defeated East Stroudsburg University on Tuesday night with a score of 8-4. The win improves Tampa to 17-3 on the season, while causing East Stroudsburg to fall to 12-5.
Tampa was first on the board after junior Jacob Schrader launched a homerun over the left field wall to lead off the second inning. Schrader, who leads the team in homeruns, now has a total of five on the year.
The Warriors and Spartans managed to get one run each in both the third and fourth innings. In the seventh, ESU capitalized on a walk and a series of singles to bring in two runs and tie up the contest.
Tampa answered back in the bottom of the inning with two runs of their own to regain the lead. The Spartans grabbed two more runs in the eighth, putting them up 8-4 on the Warriors for the remainder of the game.
Sophomore Zach Gawrych went 3-for-4 on the night with three singles. Senior Eric Grabe notched one single, one triple and two RBI. Fellow senior Damon Elder collected one double, triple and RBI in the game.
The Spartans recorded 12 hits against Warrior pitching as ESU offense recorded seven off of the Tampa staff.
Eric Luksis started on the mound for Tampa going 4.2 innings, allowing three hits, one earned run and striking out three. Aaron Gerbasi and Michael Zaccardo combined to pitch two innings of relief while striking out two Warrior batters. Reliever Preston Packrall came in for 2.1 innings to close out the game and collect the win, his fourth of the season.
The Spartans are scheduled to play conference foe Florida Tech in a three-game home series beginning on Friday at 6 p.m. Live stats and a webcast will be available through TampaSpartans.com.
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