Spartans Split Doubleheader To Take Series Against Lynn
TAMPA, Fla. - The No. 19 University of Tampa Spartans split Saturday afternoon's doubleheader against Sunshine State Conference opponent Lynn University, taking game one 10-3 and falling in game two 5-4 in extra innings. UT took the series from the Fighting Knights 2-1 moving the Spartans to 27-10 on the season, 5-3 in the SSC, while Lynn goes to 25-10, 5-7 in league play.
Both squads put up a run in the second inning with the Spartans' coming off a Casey Albanese sacrifice fly. After Lynn added a run in the third, Jared Simon homered over the left field wall, his sixth of the season, to tie the score at two and give Tampa the momentum.
A Mike Schwartz single plated a run in the fifth before a five-run sixth inning put the game away. Devin Gonzalez hit his fourth home run of the year and Schwartz added a two RBI single to push the score to 8-3. Dagmar Pena entered to play left field in the seventh and followed it up with his first home run of the year in the bottom half of the inning and Brett McKean hit an RBI double to round out the scoring at 10.
John Wiedenbauer (5-1) started for Tampa and allowed two runs, one earned, through five innings of work to earn his fifth win of the season. Alex Koronis (4) worked a four-inning save, allowing three hits and one run while striking out six.
A.J. Pinera took the hill for the Spartans in the second game, shutting out the Knights for four and two-thirds innings. Pinera allowed just four hits and no runs while striking out three. Pinera exited in line for the win, but the Spartan relievers couldn't hold the lead.
Behind Pinera, Tampa put up four runs in the first four frames. Albanese drove in Steven Broschofsky in the second inning with a single and brought in another run in the fourth with a sacrifice bunt. Schwartz picked up his fourth RBI of the day with a sacrifice fly in the third and Jared Simon doubled in a runner to conclude the Spartan scoring.
Daniel Foltz took over for Pinera in the fifth with two outs. He allowed four runs to tie the contest while striking out three. Tommy Meagher (3-2) took the loss as he allowed a solo home run in the top half of the extra inning that put Lynn on top 5-4.
Tampa will head to Saint Leo on Tuesday night in a nonconference matchup scheduled for 7 p.m. before traveling to Melbourne, Fla., on Friday to take on Florida Tech in an SSC series. UT will offer livestats through www.tampaspartans.com.