
#2 Spartans Edge #20 Buccaneers In SSC Duel
TAMPA, Fla. - The No. 2 University of Tampa baseball team managed to stave off a late-inning rally by No. 20 Barry University on Friday night, edging the Buccaneers by a final score of 8-7. With the win, the Spartans improve to 39-6 overall and 18-1 in Sunshine State Conference play while the Buccaneers drop to 25-13 and 8-8 in league play.
A four-run second inning put the Spartans on the board first. With two outs, Patrick Donahue and Correy Figueroa each singled followed by a Brad Roberts walk. Designated hitter Mike Schwartz then singled home two runners to put Tampa up 2-0 before left fielder Jared Simon added a two-run double of his own to make it 4-0.
First baseman Brad Roberts belted a solo homer in the third to push the lead to five, but the Buccaneers got one back in the fifth off UT starter John Wiedenbauer. In the bottom half of the frame, however, Tyler Cox roped a double down the left field line to score Dan Catalano and Correy Figueroa tripled home two to push it to 8-1 in favor of Tampa.
Barry mounted a rally in the sixth when they put six runs on the board against Spartan pitching to pull within one. Freshman right-hander Aaron Gerbasi entered with two runners on and struck out the side to halt the Buccaneer comeback.
Junior Evan Stobbs came on with two outs in the seventh to record his eighth save of the season. Stobbs (8) tossed two and one-third innings, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out two. Wiedenbauer (6-1) picked up his sixth win of the season in five-plus innings of work. The southpaw allowed four runs-three earned-on five hits to go along with three strikeouts.
The two squads will conclude this SSC series Saturday afternoon with a 1 p.m. doubleheader. Live stats and a webcast will be available through www.tampaspartans.com.
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