Tampa Picks Up First Loss At D2CWS

Tampa Picks Up First Loss At D2CWS
June 2, 2025

Cary, N.C. - The University of Tampa's Baseball team was back in action this evening at the 2025 Division ll College World Series. After an opening round win, the Spartans were matched up with the number five seed, Northwest Nazarene out of the west region.

Final: #1 University of Tampa Spartans 3, #5 Northwest Nazarene University Nighthawks 5

Records: Tampa (50-9),  Northwest Nazarene (46-14)

Location: USA Baseball Training Complex l Cary, North Carolina 

All-Time Series: This was just the second meeting all-time between these two programs. With the Tampa loss, the series is now tied at 1-1. 

HOW IT HAPPENED:

As the visiting team in the second round of the Division ll College World Series, the Spartans got the first crack at the plate. Tampa opened the game by loading the bases after a Nico Saladino base hit and back-to-back walks from J.D. Urso and Brayden Woodburn. Unfortunately, Nazarene was able to work out of the jam to leave the three Spartan runners stranded. On the mound for the Spartans, Skylar Gonzalez was dominate in the early stages of this contest. Gonzalez struck out the first he faced before finishing a perfect 1-2-3 bottom of the first. The next three innings were controlled by Gonzalez and his Nazarene counterpart on the mound as neither offense could get on the board through the first four innings. It was the top of the fifth that saw the game's first run on two big swings. Maddox King and Jordan Williams drilled back-to-back no doubt home runs over the left field wall to give Tampa a 2-0 lead. The Spartans were only able to hold the lead for a third of an inning before the Nighthawks stormed back in the bottom half of the fifth. NNU used a mixture of errors and hits to score four runs in response to the Tampa homers to take a 4-2. The Nighthawks then plated another run in the bottom of the sixth and took a 5-2 lead into the eighth inning. The Spartans were held scoreless once again in the top of the eighth but Ryan Stefiuk kept the deficit at three by tossing a perfect 1-2-3 inning in relief. Down to their final three outs, the Spartans were looking to spark a comeback .Pinch hitter Jhoander Irigoyen did just that when he smoked a solo home run to pull within two of NNU. Jordan Williams brought the tying run to the plate with an infield hit but Tampa was unable to keep the momentum. The Spartans came up just short, falling 5-3 to Northwest Nazarene and will move into the elimination bracket.  

AT THE PLATE:

ON THE MOUND:

UP NEXT: The Spartans have picked up their first loss at the D2 College World Series and will play Texas-Tyler in an elimination game. First pitch for Tampa and UT-Tyler is slated for 6:00pm on Tuesday, June 3rd.