Spartans Run Into Central Missouri Ace In Game One Of NCAA Championships

CARY, N.C. - The University of Tampa (46-10) baseball team suffered a 3-0 setback as University of Central Missouri (52-9) ace Brooks Martin turned in a stellar performance in game one of the 2010 NCAA Division II Championships at the NTC Complex.

Martin (12-0) finished with a complete game shutout as he allowed just four hits in 9.0 innings of work. He also notched 10 strikeouts versus just one walk.

The Mules grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second when Jon Wegener struck out, but reached on a wild pitch. After advancing to second on a balk, Wegener moved to third on a groundout and then scored on an RBI single by Albert Selanders.

Selanders accounted for all three Mule runs as he later connected on a two-run home run to center field in the fourth inning.

The Spartan offense was led by Correy Figueroa, who registered two hits. Patrick Donahue added a double as Jared Simon also had a single.

Sean Bierman (4-2) earned the start for Tampa and went 5.0 innings, striking out four Mules. Evan Stobbs threw a pair of scoreless innings as Aaron Gerbasi also had a perfect inning that featured a three-pitch strikeout and a double play to help UT escape further damage.

Tampa returns to the diamond on Monday where it will meet the loser of the UC-San Diego and Georgia College & State meeting from Saturday night. Monday's game will be at 3 p.m. Live stats and a link for the NCAA webcast will be available through www.tampaspartans.com.

Following are the links for the webcast and live stats. 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.