Homers Lead Spartans To Series Win Versus Saint Leo
TAMPA, Fla. - Behind three home runs from Garrett Maines and 39 hits on the afternoon, the No. 13 University of Tampa Spartans (32-12, 10-5 SSC) swept the doubleheader against Saint Leo University (15-29, 5-13 SSC) to take the Sunshine State Conference series 2-1. Tampa came back from an 8-0 deficit to take game one 15-13 before rolling to a 13-5 victory in game two.
The two teams combined for 28 runs and 37 hits in the first contest. The Spartans fell behind early and found themselves in an 8-0 hole after a shaky start from John Wiedenbauer, who lasted just one and one-third innings. Kyle Hobbs took the first pitch of the game over the left field wall and the Lions added six runs in the second before Daniel Foltz entered the game to quiet the Saint Leo bats. The Tampa offense rallied behind Foltz to put up 12 runs to take the lead.
Garrett Maines stroked his first of three home runs on the day in the bottom of the second to start the comeback. Jose Jimenez followed in the third with a three-run homer of his own and Casey Albanese hit his first homer of the year, a two-run shot, to power the offense. Eight Spartans collected multiple hits in the game while Maines and Jimenez each posted four runs batted in.
Foltz held the Lions scoreless through the sixth before leaving with bases loaded in the seventh. Saint Leo tied the ballgame in the inning but Alex Koronis (4-1) got the win for Tampa as Jesus Barroso, Tyler Cox, and Jimenez added RBIs in the bottom half of the inning to regain the lead.
In the second contest, the Spartan pitching had more breathing room as Tampa jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning thanks to another RBI from Jimenez and Maines' second three-run homer of the afternoon. Mike Schwartz hit his team-leading 10th home run in the fourth to stretch the lead to 10-2.
A.J. Pinera (2-2) took the hill for Tampa and threw four solid innings to pick up the win. Carmine Giardina closed out the game to earn his first save of the season, tossing three scoreless innings while giving up just one hit and striking out three.
The Spartans are home again next weekend to continue conference play as they take on the Rollins College Tars in the three-game set. UT will offer livestats and live video through www.tampaspartans.com.