#21 Sharks Take Down #12 Spartans

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The No. 12 University of Tampa baseball team dropped the conference series-opener against No. 21 Nova Southeastern 5-1 Friday night. The Spartans fall to 22-8 overall, 3-1 in the Sunshine State Conference, while the Sharks move to 23-5, 1-3 in league play.

The contest opened with three scoreless frames on both sides, but NSU got to Tampa starter John Wiedenbauer (4-1) in the fourth when they picked up two runs on three hits. Backed by a 4-for-4 day from J.D. Martinez, the Sharks collected three more runs to make the score 5-0. Wiedenbauer finished the outing tossing five innings, allowing five runs, three earned, on eight hits with two walks and a strikeout.

The Tampa offense couldn't muster much against Nova Southeastern's Miles Mikolas, who struck out 11 Spartan batters en route to the complete game victory. Mikolas gave up just one run on seven hits while issuing just one free pass. UT's lone run came on an RBI groundout by junior Tyler Cox.

Daniel Foltz turned in a strong relief outing, holding the Sharks scoreless in three innings of work. Foltz also struck out five, but the Spartan bats couldn't overcome the deficit.

The teams will face off again tomorrow afternoon in an SSC doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. UT will offer livestats through www.tampaspartans.com.