Spartans Slam Their Way to Sweep of Northern Kentucky
TAMPA, Fla. - The third-ranked University of Tampa baseball team overcame some sloppy play in the field in the series finale against Northern Kentucky University to record a 6-4 come-from-behind victory over the Norse on an eighth inning grand slam by Garrett Maines. With the win, Tampa improves to 13-2-1 on the season, while the Norse remain winless with a record of 0-5.
The Spartans fell behind early on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Tampa, allowing an early run in the top of the first on an RBI single by Northern Kentucky's Evan McDole. The Norse struck again in the third inning, capitalizing on a pair of Spartan miscues to take a 2-0 lead. Northern Kentucky's Jeff Bohlen stretched the lead to 3-0 in the fourth with an RBI single that scored Drew Rushing.
With the score still 3-0 in favor of the Norse, preseason All-American Ryan Shaffer stepped to the plate with one out in the top of the seventh, and hit a solo home run into the right field netting to extend the Northern Kentucky lead to 4-0.
The Norse got a tremendous performance from its starter, Ryan Schmidt, who shut out the Spartans through the first seven innings before surrendering three of Tampa's six runs in the six-run bottom of the eighth.
Schmidt returned to the hill in the bottom of the eighth to face the middle of the Spartan order, having already thrown in excess of 100 pitches. Jesus Barroso lead off the inning with a double down the left field line, taking a 2-1 pitch and tucking it just inside the third base bag and into foul territory. Then with Barroso standing at second, first baseman Jose Jimenez came through in the clutch with an RBI single up the middle to break up the shutout bid.
With no outs yet recorded in the inning and Jimenez standing on first, the leading RBI man for the Spartans stepped up to the plate in the person of Nolan Brannon, who stroked a single through the right side of the infield to put runners on first and second with no outs for Ryan Williams. After Williams took a pitch off the small of his back, Jimenez came across to score the Spartans' second run of the game on a wild pitch to cut the lead to 4-2.
The next batter, Stephen Merino, then worked a four pitch walk to load the bases for Maines with still no one out in the inning. After watching the first few pitches thrown to him sail by into the catcher's mitt, the sophomore from Brandon, Fla. got a 2-2 fastball and promptly deposited it into the netting in left field for his first career grand slam that gave Tampa a 6-4 lead. Dave Middendorf then came into the game for the Norse and retired the next three batters to end the inning.
Having taken a 6-4 lead in the eighth, the Spartans sent their closer Anthony Perez out to the mound for the ninth inning to close the door on the Norse. Perez promptly struck out the first batter of the inning on three pitches, before NKU's Jon Back singled through the right side to keep the inning alive. The Spartan closer then induced a ground ball to second, giving his defense the opportunity to turn the game-ending double play.
Joshua Bowman pitched well in his fourth start for the Spartans despite the defensive miscues behind him, allowing three runs (one earned) on three hits in five innings of work. The freshman also struck out a career-high seven batters, and gave up no walks. Nate Titus pitched a perfect eighth inning to pick up his first career win, while Perez remained perfect with his sixth save in as many chances.
Maines made a big impact in the game, collecting two of Tampa's eight hits, including his grand slam in the eight. The grand slam moves him into sole possession of the team-lead in home runs with three after he hit a solo shot in the doubleheader on Saturday. With his four RBIs on Sunday, coupled with the run he drove in on Saturday, Maines also moves into a tie for third on the team with 12 runs batted in on the season.
The Spartans return to action on Tuesday at home to face Saint Joseph's College. First pitch is scheduled for 7 pm.