Offense Carries #20 Tampa To Doubleheader Sweep
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The No. 20 University of Tampa baseball team's offense continued to roll as they swept Saturday's doubleheader against Stillman College. The Spartans (9-3) put up 12-spots in both contests, taking game one 12-1 and game two 12-4.
The Tigers couldn't muster any earned runs against the Spartan pitching, as their only run came off two Spartan errors. Josh Bowman started the first game for the Spartans, tossing five innings of three-hit ball. Bowman (2-1) struck out five Tiger batters and walked none. Max Kreuter and Daniel Foltz each threw one inning in the game in relief of Bowman, with neither allowing a run.
Tampa put up two runs in the third inning when Correy Figueroa and Brad Roberts each doubled. Roberts eventually came around to score on a balk. The Spartans added another run in the fourth before adding five in the fifth. UT used four doubles in the inning, one each from Mike Schwartz, Jared Simon, Adam Pendleton, and Dylan Brown.
The final inning of game one saw Tampa score another four runs. Mike Bourdon led off the inning with a pinch hit home run. Simon, 8-for-12 this series with 10 RBI, added another two-run double to finish out the game.
A.J. Pinera was on the hill in the second game for Tampa. Pinera threw six solid innings against the Tigers, allowing no earned runs on six hits to go along with five strikeouts for his first win of the season.
The Spartans once again got on the board early, putting up two runs in the first frame. Figueroa led off the contest with a single and advanced to second on a throwing error before Roberts drove him home with a single of his own. Simon followed with a run-scoring double that put Tampa up 2-0.
The Tigers countered in the third, scoring two unearned runs of their own to tie the ballgame, but Tampa stormed back in the fifth to regain the lead. After consecutive singles from Brown and Figueroa, Schwartz drove them home with a long double to right-center. Schwartz came around to score in the inning thanks to a Tiger error. Tampa added one more in sixth before breaking the game open in the seventh and final inning.
In the seventh, Blanke walked and Patrick Donahue singled to start the inning. Brett McKean followed with an RBI single. Figueroa's fourth hit of the game drove in McKean and Donahue before Schwartz added his second double of the game to bring home Figueroa. The Spartans rounded out their scoring in the inning when a two-RBI double from Simon to put Tampa up 12-2.
The Tigers mounted a rally in the seventh, but it wasn't enough as the Spartans closed out the game with a final score of 12-4.
The two squads will wrap up the four game series tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. ET. Live stats will be available through www.tampaspartans.com. Fans may also follow University of Tampa athletics on Twitter (www.twitter.com/utspartans) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/tampaspartans). UT also offers eScores, a free text messaging service that sends text alerts following all Spartan events. To sign up, please register at www.tampaspartans.com.