Tampa Prevails In 13-Inning Thriller With Backs Against Wall

Box score

PENSACOLA, Fla. - In its longest postseason game in school history, The University of Tampa (36-16) came through with a walk-off single in the 13th inning to knock Gulf South Conference tournament champion Southern Arkansas University (36-16) from the NCAA South Regional, winning by a 4-3 score.

UT relied on a pitcher by committee as each team had seven hits apiece. SAU took a 1-0 lead in the second, as UT scored one apiece in both the fifth and sixth innings. The first Spartan run came on an RBI groundout by Cody Davis, scoring Shawn Pleffner.

After the Muleriders grabbed a 2-1 lead in the top of the sixth, Tampa's Patrick Donahue was hit by a pitch and later scored on a Pleffner single.

The Spartans would grab a 3-2 advantage, its first of the game, in the seventh inning behind a sac fly from catcher Adam Pendleton. SAU would even the score in the eighth, forcing extra innings as Mulerider starting pitcher Doug Shields threw 10.0 innings while allowing just four hits. Shields finished the day with a pitch count of 138.

After not registering a hit since the eighth inning, the Spartans struck for three in the 13th inning as Donahue and Andrew Jones notched back-to-back singles with one out on the board. In Tampa's longest game since a 14-inning affair in 1994, Pleffner then shot a single through the middle, scoring the game-winning run in Donahue.

Aaron Gerbasi pitched the final 5.1 innings for Tampa and was near-perfect while moving to 2-2 on the year. The sophomore from Plant City, Fla., yielded just one hit while striking out five in extended work.

Justin Leith started for head coach Joe Urso's squad, hurling 3.0 innings and allowing just one run. Ryan Kennedy then entered for 3.0 innings, followed by stints out of the pen from Shane Riedie (1.2 IP) and Tim Kiley.

The game also marked a rematch of the 2010 NCAA South Region championship meeting, which UT won by a score of 20-3.

The Spartans return to action at the 2011 NCAA South Regional, meeting the loser of Friday night's West Florida and Barry matchup on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. All games are being played at Jim Spooner Field on the campus of the University of West Florida.

Live stats and a webcast will be available through www.tampaspartans.com. The official South Regional tournament site may also be reached by clicking here.

Fans may also follow University of Tampa athletics on Twitter (www.twitter.com/utspartans) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/tampaspartans). UT also offers blAst, a free text messaging service that sends text alerts following all Spartan events. To sign up, please register atwww.tampaspartans.com.