Tampa Tops Valdosta in Friday Night Thriller

Box score

VALDOSTA, Ga. - On a night that saw five Spartan batters swing multi-hit games, the No. 4 University of Tampa baseball team held onto the 10-8 win against Valdosta State University. The Spartans cruise to a 9-2 record, their eighth straight victory, while the Blazers drop to 3-9 on the season.

Tampa began the scoring attack as first baseman Shawn Pleffner singled in the hot-hitting Taylor Wrenn in the premier inning of play. The Blazers answered back by tacking on two runs of their own to bottom out the first, off a pair of RBI ground-outs to take the lead 2-1.

VSU pulled ahead in the second inning of play when third baseman Bobby Triglia doubled home John Willner, putting the Spartans in a 3-1 hole.

In a wild top of the third, the Spartans knotted up the score after Blazers pitching issued four walks on the inning. Tampa plated two runs to tie the score at three each.

The fourth frame ended in similar fashion, as the Spartans crossed two batters off of an RBI single by Eric Grabe and a sacrifice fly from outfielder Damon Elder. Junior Wrenn continued to cushion his batting average as he tripled home Cody Davis. The center fielder singled a perfect bunt down the third base line for Wrenn to slug him passed home-plate and increase the Tampa lead to 7-3 margin.

For the fourth straight inning the Spartans tacked on multiple runs with RBI singles from Wrenn, Grabe, and Pleffner, ending the Spartan attack and pushing them to a 10-3 mark. The seemingly silent Blazers crossed three batters at the bottom of the sixth with a homer to left field from nine-hole hitter Aaron Kicklighter, his first of the season.

The bottom of the ninth ended in dramatic fashion as Davis came in to pitch out of a bases-loaded jam, pitching two key outs without allowing a run to earn the save and end the game at 10-8.

Frank DeJiulio earned the win, pitching five innings of four hit ball, allowing three runs and fanning four. Blazer started Kevin Rogers was given the loss as he pitched 3.1 innings, allowing five runs off eight hits. Max Kreuter pitched a near-perfect sixth allowing one hit and no runs.

Wrenn and Grabe had four hits apiece in six chances, adding two and three RBI respectively. Pleffner and Davis both added three hits to the Spartan tally, as Tampa gains momentum on the season.

Tampa returns to action Saturday with a double-header to finish off the series against Valdosta, game one slotted for a 1 p.m. start time. Livestats will be available through www.tampaspartans.com.

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