Spartans Take Down Panthers in Opening Round of NCAA II South Regional

TAMPA, Fla. - The University of Tampa Spartans (43-8) defeated the Florida Tech Panthers (38-15) in the first round of the NCAA II South Regional Baseball Tournament on Thursday afternoon at the UT Baseball Field by a score of 7-1.

The Spartans were led by a dominating performance from starter Josh Bowman (8-3). The junior struck out 10 Panthers on the day while matching a career high by tossing eight innings. He allowed just two hits.

Offensively, Correy Figueroa (1-4) struck first for Tampa in the second inning. With runners on second and third he singled to left field bringing in Devin Gonzalez (2-3). On the play, Dylan Brown (2-4) also scored on a throwing error by the left fielder to put Tampa ahead 2-0.

In the fourth inning, following a walk by Mike Schwartz (0-2), Tampa catcher Mike Blanke (2-5) singled and knocked in Schwartz to stretch the lead to three. Blanke advanced to second on a throwing error and later scored on a single by Jared Simon (1-4). Gonzalez followed Simon, with an RBI double to put Tampa in control 5-0.

The score would remain 5-0 until when in the eighth inning Tampa added two more runs. Tyler Cox (1-5) began the frame with a single, but was forced out at second when Brad Roberts (1-4) bounced to short. A throwing error by the second basemen allowed Roberts to move into scoring position.

After a ground out by Schwartz, Roberts moved to third. Blanke drove in his second run of the day with a ground out to the shortstop, which allowed Roberts to trot home. Following a wild pitch, Simon was walked to keep a force out in order for Trace Venegas (1-1). Venegas answered the call with a RBI single to right center, putting Tampa firmly ahead 7-0.

Tom Meagher entered the contest in the ninth inning following Bowman's solid performance and recorded the frame's first two outs while surrendering the lone Florida Tech run. Carmine Giardina followed Meagher for the final out of the contest.

Panther starter Jonathan Cornelius (8-4) was tagged with his fourth loss of the season.

The Spartans will resume postseason play Friday as they take on the Valdosta State Blazers at 4:30 p.m. at the UT Baseball Field.

Live stats and a webcast will be available through tampaspartans.com. Fans may 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.