Spartans Bring the Bats in Series Opener with Sailfish
April 29, 2016

Spartans Bring the Bats in Series Opener with Sailfish

Tampa slugged 19 runs on 22 hits in the victory.

TAMPA, Fla. – The third-ranked University of Tampa baseball team welcomed in the Palm Beach Atlantic University Sailfish Friday night at the UT Baseball Field. UT tallied 19 runs on 22 hits defeating PBA by a final score of 19-4. The victory improves the Spartans to 34-7 while the Sailfish drop to 19-25.

Tampa jumped on the Sailfish early in the game scoring three runs in the bottom half of the first inning. Danny Lee drove in Casey Scoggins on an RBI triple to the right centerfield gap. Lee would then come in to score on a wild pitch the following batter. Laz Rivera would score the final run of the inning, after an Adrian Chacon RBI single.
 

The Spartans would add two more runs in the bottom of the second inning as Chris Gaffney led the inning off with his third home run of the season. Scoggins would then later score with a two-out RBI from Rivera. 

After a scoreless third inning, UT would erupt in the bottom of the fourth inning as they sent 14 batters to the plate, scoring nine runs on seven hits. Chacon provided the big bat in the inning, as the first baseman blasted a grand slam to leftfield to give Tampa an 11-1 lead. The Spartans would also capitalize on PBA errors as they scored four unearned runs to end the inning with a 14-1 lead.

Tampa would extend its lead to 16-3 in the sixth inning as Vincent Minet would drive in two runs with a single through the right side. In the bottom of the eighth, UT would add three more runs as Kyle Cotilletta, Ricky Negron, and Vin Cosenzo scored. Cotilletta would also record his first career hit as a Spartan.
 

Scoggins and Lee would serve as the catalyst for the Spartans offense as the top two batters in the lineup each scored four runs in the game. UT would also steal five bases in the game with Scoggins stealing three of them. 

Chacon would lead the team offensively as the first baseman would go 2-for-3 with five RBI.

Christopher Williams earned his fifth start of the season going a solid five innings. He would earn his eighth win of the season, allowing one earned run and striking out eight batters.

Chris Rubin was effective from the bullpen, as the right-handed pitcher went three innings, allowing no runs and just two hits. He would also punch out two batters in the outing.

Bryan Tarricone threw the final inning for the Spartans allowing one hit and one run. As a pitching staff, UT allowed just two earned runs and struck out 10 batters.

The two teams will conclude the series tomorrow with a doubleheader. Game one will begin at 1:00 p.m. and the team will host a senior day ceremony between games one and two.

Live stats, as well as a live broadcast, will be made available through www.tampaspartans.com as well as on the UT Spartans Front Row app.

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