Panthers Scratch Spartans in First of Series

Box score

TAMPA, Fla. - The University of Tampa baseball team was defeated by conference foe Florida Institute of Technology on Friday night by a score of 5-1. The loss is Tampa's fourth as it falls to 17-4 (1-3 SSC) and improves FIT to 15-8 (3-3 SSC).

The Panthers tallied one run against the Spartans in the top of the first inning but Tampa was able to answer back in the bottom. Senior Eric Grabe hit a sacrifice fly to bring in fellow senior Damon Elder, who had gotten on by a lead-off single.

In the next eight innings, no other Spartan could managed to cross home plate for another Tampa run. Florida Tech went on to score two runs in both the third and sixth innings, respectively.

The final three-run deficit was the Spartans' largest of the season.

Junior southpaw Ben O'Shea pitched six complete innings for Tampa. O'Shea allowed seven hits, five earned runs, and struck out four Panthers. Senior Ryan Kennedy relieved O'shea going three innings and allowing just two hits in eleven batters faced.

Panther pitching held the Spartans to eight hits total while sophomore Tyler Ding had three of them. The remaining hits came from Elder, Grabe, Anthony Caronia, Zach Gawrych, and Connor Obrochta, who each recorded one.

The Spartans will return to their home field on Saturday for a doubleheader contest against the Panthers beginning at 1 p.m. Live stats and a webcast will be available through TampaSpartans.com.

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