Joe Urso Gets 500th Win After Doubleheader Split
TAMPA, Fla. - The No. 1 University of Tampa baseball team got Joe Urso his 500th career win as the Spartans' head coach after it defeated Florida Tech on Saturday. However, the victory was slightly tainted by a loss earlier in the day.
The Spartans lost the first game of the twin-bill as the Panthers clawed their way to a 3-2 win. FIT took a 1-0 lead in the third as shortstop K.C. Clabough tripled to right-centerfield, rounding third base on an errant throw home.
The Panthers padded their lead with a pair of RBI singles off the bats of designated hitter Scott Carcaise and Brock Bontrager, bringing the score to a 3-0 deficit.
Tampa struck back in the eighth as senior Andrew Jones singled to left, scoring sophomore Connor Obrochta. Later that inning, Jake Schrader hit a sacrifice fly to bring the game to within one run.
The Panthers proved too much for the Spartans to handle and UT took the first game loss, 3-2.
Senior Sean Bierman started on the mound for Tampa. Bierman threw seven complete innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out seven panthers. Fellow senior Evan Stobbs came in to pitch two innings of one-hit baseball. Stobbs also struck out two FIT batters.
Spartan offense awoke in the second game as three different Spartans managed to go two-for-three in the contest including Damon Elder, Zach Gawrych, and Obrochta. One of Gawrych's two hits was sent over the left field wall for the team's tenth homerun of the season.
Tampa had a big inning in the first, recording five singles and five runs. While the Panthers answered back with three runs of their own in the second, they were not able to collect another as the game went on.
Gawrych's solo shot in the sixth inning put the Spartans up 6-3 on the Panthers, which would stay the score for the remainder of the game.
Junior Spartan Ben Brown pitched five complete innings for Tampa. Brown struck out five Panthers while allowing three earned runs and collecting his fourth win. Sophomore Preston Packrall entered to close out the game for Brown. Packrall went for two innings, struck out one Panther, and recorded his second save.
The doubleheader split puts the Spartans at 18-5 (2-4 SSC) overall while Florida Tech leaves Tampa with a 16-9 (4-3 SSC) season record.
Tampa is set to face Franklin Pierce University at home on Tuesday at 5 p.m. Live stats and a webcast will be available through TampaSpartans.com.
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