Elder Turns The Round Table On Fighting Knights
TAMPA, Fla. - The No. 14 University of Tampa baseball team earned its first Sunshine State Conference series sweep with two wins on Saturday against visiting Lynn University. The Spartans (18-7, 4-2 SSC) took game one 9-6 and game two 6-5, dropping the Fighting Knights to 13-13 on the season and 2-4 in league play.
The Fighting Knights got out to an early lead in game one when they put up a four-spot in the second off Tampa starter Eric Grabe. The Spartans responded in the third, however, when freshman Zach Gawrych led off the inning with a triple to right-center. Patrick Donahue followed with an RBI single to put UT on the board. With Donahue on second, Shawn Pleffner launched his first homer of the season over the wall in right to pull Tampa within one.
The Spartans wouldn't trail for long. In the fifth, Grabe doubled and moved to third after a single by Pleffner. With runners on the corners, Andrew Jones singled to tie the ballgame before Damon Elder cleared the bases with a triple to deep right field, giving Tampa a 6-4 edge. Pleffner turned in a 4-for-5 effort, falling a double short of the cycle. Gawrych, Elder, and Donahue each tallied two hits in the game while Grabe extended his hitting streak to 12 games.
The two squads traded runs in the sixth and seventh but Tim Kiley picked up his fourth save of the season with a three-inning outing to close out the 9-6 victory. Daniel Foltz (1-1) got the win for Tampa with four strong innings in relief of Grabe. Foltz allowed just one run on three hits to go along with four strikeouts. Jason Beaumont took the loss for Lynn, moving him to 4-2 on the season. He allowed seven runs on 10 hits, a walk, and four strikeouts.
Game two saw Lynn take another short-lived early lead, pulling ahead 2-0 in the first off Frank DeJiulio. Elder tied it in the second frame with his first home run of the season, a two-run shot that scored Jones.
The Knights added two runs in the third off a single and a sacrifice but Tampa came back once again. Donahue led off the bottom of the inning with a single up the middle and Jones drove him home with a single to left. Donahue continued to contribute in the fourth when he plated Gawrych to knot the game at four.
After Jones was hit by a pitch to lead off the fifth, Elder continued to do damage. The junior cranked his second two-run homer of the game-this time to left field-to put Tampa ahead 6-4. Shane Riedie (3-2) entered in relief of DeJiulio in the third and tossed three innings of two-hit ball to earn the win.
A shaky final inning allowed Lynn to pull within a run. The Fighting Knights loaded the bases but Justin Leith entered to get the final two outs and pick up his first career save and close out the series sweep.
Tampa returns to the UT Baseball Field on Tuesday night when they welcome Florida Memorial for a 5 p.m. contest. Live stats will be available throughwww.tampaspartans.com.
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