No. 1 Tampa Wins Eighth-Straight in 5-2 Victory Over Southern Indiana

Box score

TAMPA, Fla. - The No. 1 University of Tampa Spartans baseball team defeated the visiting University of Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles by a 5-2 score, Saturday evening from UT Baseball Field. The victory marked Tampa's eighth-straight win, and their second-consecutive victory over the defending 2014 National Champions.

Senior lefty Chase Sparkman took the mound for the Spartans in the victory, tossing 6.1 innings and allowing just four hits. The starter struck out six and walked just one before junior RHP Dylan Barrow came in for relief duties. Barrow threw a total of two and two-thirds innings in the outing, striking out three and allowing just one USI hit.

After holding the Eagles scoreless in the first, the Spartans quickly jumped on the board offensively. Junior Casey Scoggins led off the inning with an infield single, which senior Giovanny Alfonso followed up with a single to right-field. Stepping to the plate next was junior Nick Flair, who sent a single through the left side and scored Scoggins for an RBI and an early lead.

The Eagles' senior Tyler Mikrut evened the score in the top of the second inning with a solo homerun, but the Spartans' own Joe Walsh responded with a solo homer of his own in the bottom of the inning to give Tampa back the lead.

Tampa tacked on a run in the bottom thanks to a timely error by the Golden Eagles' outfield. Flair began the inning by taking two bases on a dropped fly ball, and advanced to third base on the next flyout. An RBI single from junior Cody deNoyelles then scored Flair to give the Spartans a 3-1 lead.

Two more Golden Eagles errors in the bottom of the sixth inning allowed two more Tampa runs, putting the Spartans ahead by four.

Southern Indiana picked up a run in the top of the seventh to bring the score to 5-2, but it would not be enough, as the Spartans picked up their eighth-straight victory.

As a team, Tampa registered 12 hits on the evening, walking twice and capitalizing on five Eagles errors. In addition, senior Andrew Amaro and junior Casey Scoggins each recorded a stolen base in the victory.

Southern Indiana's Tyler Nichols was credited with the loss on the evening, despite four strikeouts and just one walk.

Tampa and Southern Indiana will close out the series on Sunday, February 15 with an 11 a.m. contest. Live stats as well as a live video webcast will be available through www.tampaspartans.tv.

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