#1 Tampa Defeats Defending National Champs for Tenth Straight Win

Box score

VALDOSTA, Ga. - The No. 1 University of Tampa baseball team (10-0) defeated the defending national champion, No. 9 University of West Florida (9-2), in a nine inning battle on Friday night. The game, delayed four hours due to rain, ended with a score of 10-7, with Tampa on top.

The Spartans scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the second inning. Junior Adam Pendleton smacked a double to right centerfield to bring in sophomore Tyler Ding from first base. This was Pendleton's second game back in the lineup after an injury left him unable to play.

An Argo throwing error would be the cause of two more Spartan runs in the third, allowing seniors Damon Elder and Andrew Jones to score. The two had gotten on base by a walk and a single, respectively.

The first Argo run of the game crossed the plate in the top of the fourth inning and was rendered unearned.

Tampa would pile on five more runs in the bottom of the fourth. One came as sophomore Zach Gawrych scored off a double by Elder, who would later go on to score himself. Junior Jake Schrader extended the Spartan lead by slamming a three-run homerun over the outfield wall. Schrader leads the team in homeruns with a season total of three.

Pendleton stepped up again in the seventh when he notched a two-RBI single, scoring the Spartans ninth and tenth runs.

The Argos managed to tally seven runs off the seven Spartan pitchers that saw action. UWF batters had four hits, five strike outs, and ten walks.

Starting senior LHP Sean Bierman pitched for five complete innings, allowing only two hits, two earned runs, and two walks, while striking out four. Bierman collected his third win of the season.

Senior RHP Evan Stobbs came in to get the final out of the game. Stobbs faced two batters, recording one out and his fourth save.

With the victory, Tampa improves its record to 10-0 on the season as UWF falls to 9-2.

The Spartans are scheduled to play their second game of the weekend against No. 26 Delta State University on Saturday at noon. The team is looking for their eleventh win of the season.

Fans may 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 at www.tampaspartans.com.