Spartans Cage Sharks in Top 5 Showdown
The Spartans traveled to Fort Lauderdale to take on No. 3 Nova Southeastern and won game one of the series 7-4.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
#1 Tampa
|
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 11 | 1 |
|
#3 Nova Southeastern
|
2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 0 |
TAMPA, Fla. - The No. 1 University of Tampa Spartans battled the No. 3 ranked Nova Southeastern and came out victorious in game one of the weekend series.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: No. 1 Tampa Spartans 7, No. 3 Nova Sharks 4
Records: Tampa (17-5, 6-1 SSC), Nova (16-8, 5-2 SSC)
Location: NSU Baseball Complex | Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
All-time Series: Tampa leads the all-time series with a 37-16 record over the Sharks.
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How it happened
- The Sharks jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first when they picked up two runs, one of them a solo homerun to left field.
- The Spartans wouldn't score a run until the top of the third inning when Richie Rivera hit a homerun to left field. The Sharks also picked up a run in the bottom of the third which made the score 3-1 heading into the fourth inning.
- J.D. Osborne started the fourth inning off by talling his 11th homerun of the season.
- The top of the sixth started out with Kevin Santa singled through the left side. Osborne came up to the plate and doubled down the left field line and scored Santa. Laz Rivera singled through the right side and brought Osborne across the plate. Darren Miller hit a single of his own to left center, advancing L. Rivera to third. Vin Cosenzo and Connor Crile singled to left and right field, respectively, and scored an RBI each to end the inning and make the score 6-3.
- The Spartans score one more run in the top of the seventh.
- The Sharks picked up a run in the bottom of the ninth but it wasn't enough to close in on the Spartans lead.
Inside the Stats
- Osborne and Miller led the team with three hits. Osborne also added two runs and three RBI.
- Freshman Colton Widdows got the win for the Spartans. Cheyne Bickel collected the save.
Beyond the Box
- Widdows improved his record to 4-0.
UP NEXT:
Tampa will return to action on Saturday for a doubleheader starting at 12 pm with the Sharks. Fans can watch through TampaSpartans.tv.
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