#4 Spartans Take Series Finale Against #5 Muleriders
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1 |
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2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | X | 12 | 12 | 0 |
TAMPA, Fla. - The No. 4 University of Tampa baseball team rode a strong showing from its offense to take Sunday's series finale against No. 5 Southern Arkansas University. After completing Friday's rain-delayed contest, a 9-7 loss to the Muleriders, the Spartans took the final contest by a final score of 12-1. The win pushes Tampa to 5-3 on the season while Southern Arkansas moves to 5-2.
Junior lefty John Wiedenbauer started the last game of the series for the Spartans and tossed five innings, allowing four hits and one run while striking out five. The Spartan bats came alive in the first inning when a Patrick Donahue single plated Brad Roberts and Mike Schwartz to put Tampa up 2-0.
With Schwartz on base in the third after a leadoff double, junior Jared Simon stroked his team-leading fifth home run of the season to center field. After Donahue singled, Larry Walicki doubled down the left field line to give Tampa a 5-0 lead. Mike Blanke also added an RBI single in the fourth to push the lead to six.
The Muleriders lone run came in the fifth when Logan Williams hit a solo homer off Wiedenbauer. Carmine Giardina relieved Wiedenbauer in the sixth, throwing three innings of one-hit ball.
Any hopes of an SAU comeback were stifled in the home seventh, however, when the Spartans put six runs on the board. With the bases loaded, Schwartz blasted a grand slam down the right field line to seal the win for Tampa.
Prior to the final game, the two squads completed Friday's contest which was postponed due to rain. Down 8-6 in the seventh, the Spartans tried to rally back for the win, adding a run off a Tyler Cox single, but the Mulerider pitching proved too difficult to overcome as UT fell 9-7.
UT is home again on Tuesday night against Warner before traveling to Tuscaloosa, Ala. for a series against Stillman College this weekend.
Live stats and a webcast will be available through www.tampaspartans.com.
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