#3 Spartans Poised for a Shot at History
TAMPA, Fla. - The third-ranked University of Tampa baseball team could be on the brink of history, as it travels to Sauget, Ill. for the NCAA II College World Series to compete for an unprecedented third NCAA II National Championship. Fresh off winning its third consecutive south region title, Tampa is set to take on Ashland University in its first game of the World Series on Sunday May 25 at 7 pm EST.
The Spartan offense is poised to take advantage of any mistake made by opposing pitchers, coming into championship play swinging hot bats following a south regional tournament in which they hit .401 as a team, and launched nine home runs in four games. Junior second baseman Jesus Barroso is riding a 14-game hitting streak following a regional tournament in which he collected eight hits in 19 at-bats with three home runs, and 13 RBI to earn Most Outstanding Player honors.
Tampa's pitching staff kept the team in each game throughout the regional, giving the offense ample opportunity to lead the Spartans back the College World Series. The bullpen saved the day in the championship day last Sunday, as Daniel Foltz and Anthony Perez combined to shut out Catawba College over the last four innings, with Perez pitching a scoreless ninth inning to record his 17th save of the season. With the save, Perez is now tied for the NCAA II lead in that category, and has posted a 4-1 record this season with an ERA of 2.22 in 48.2 innings to anchor the Spartan bullpen this season.
Live stats will be provided through tampaspartans.com for all of Tampa's games in the championship series, as well as an audio and video webcast.