No. 2 Spartans Double Up Panthers in High-Scoring SSC Opener

TAMPA, Fla. – The No. 2 University of Tampa baseball team erased an early deficit to defeat Florida Tech by double digits in Friday's Sunshine State Conference series opener.

Final Score: No. 2 University of Tampa Spartans 22, Florida Tech Panthers 11 

Records: Tampa (25-7, 14-2 SSC), Florida Tech (20-13, 9-7 SSC)

Location: Rick Stottler Field || Melbourne, Fla.

All-Time Series: Tampa now holds a lopsided 127-35 advantage in the all-time series with Florida Tech. Friday's win is the seventh consecutive Spartan win against the Panthers.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Tampa crossed three in its first trip to the plate, with Drew Ehrhard scoring Jordan Lala on an RBI single. A fielding error also allowed a pair of Spartans to score in the inning. | 3-0 Spartans
• Florida Tech quickly answered, scoring eight runs in the bottom of the first inning. | 8-3 Panthers
• The Spartans chipped away at the lead, scoring two in the second inning on a two-run single by E.J. Cumbo. | 8-5 Panthers
• Anthony Nunez drove home the first run of the fourth inning which was followed by a game-tying two-run home run by Jamarcus Lyons. | 8-8 tie
• UT regained the lead for good with a two-run fifth inning. Lala had an RBI double as the second Spartan run would score on a wild pitch. | 10-8 Spartans
• A five-run sixth inning broke the game wide open for the Spartans, who capitalized on a pair of FIT defensive blunders. Nico Saladino, Lala, and J.D. Urso each drove in a run on singles. 15-8 Spartans
• Florida Tech added a run in the sixth and another in the seventh to cut the UT lead to five runs. | 15-10 Spartans
• The second five-run inning of the game for UT came in the eighth, which featured a bases-loaded walk by Ehrhard and Nunez and hit by pitch by Jose Cadenas and Cumbo. The fifth run came on a wild pitch. | 20-10 Spartans
• A solo home run added a run to the board for the Panthers in the bottom of the eighth. | 20-11 Spartans
• Parker Schlichte came through with a pinch-hit RBI single to push the Spartan lead back to double figures. | 21-11 Spartans

 INSIDE THE STATS:

• Eli Thurmond was the starting pitcher for Tampa.
• Eric Linder was the first reliever called upon and held the Panthers quiet as the UT offense regained the lead. Linder would earn the win to move to 1-0 on the season. In 4.2 innings pitched, Linder allowed just four FIT hits and struck out two Panthers while walking none.
• Lala went 3-4 with two RBI and five runs scored.
• Saladino had three hits, as he also drove in a run and scored twice.
• Urso, Cumbo and Lyons each added a pair of hits.
• Ehrhard continues to move closer to becoming UT's all-time hits leader. He currently stands at 311 career hits, which is 28 shy of Ronnie Merrill's school record.
• The 22 runs for Tampa marked the most in an SSC opener since scoring 25 against Florida Southern in 2010.

UP NEXT: The Spartans and Panthers are back at it on Saturday, meeting up for a doubleheader that will start at 2 p.m., in Melbourne.