Top-Ranked Spartans Look to Continue Success Against Lions

TAMPA, Fla. - The University of Tampa baseball team will welcome Florida Memorial University for a Tuesday evening contest at the UT Baseball Field. The game is scheduled for 5 p.m.

UT, now ranked No. 1 in the nation by College Baseball Lineup, is also No. 8 in the updated Collegiate Baseball Newspaper national rankings.

The Spartans swept Saint Leo University in a three-game Sunshine State Conference series over the weekend.

Tampa's pitchers now have a 2.36 ERA, compared to a 5.50 clip for its opponents. 10 of UT's 11 pitchers have notched an ERA below 4.00 as seven are sub-3.00. Andrew Jones leads the Spartans at the plate with a .388 average as Connor Obrochta and Damon Elder come in at .357 and .321 respectively.

Florida Memorial is 16-21 in 2012, as it is looking to end a current two game skid. FMU has accumulated a .301 team batting average. J.C. Gil leads all Lions at .415 with 20 RBI and a team-high 11 doubles.

The game will mark the third all-time meeting against the NAIA Sun Conferense baseball opponent, with UT owning a 3-0 lead in the series. The last meeting took place in 2011 with Tampa defeating Florida Memorial 23-0.

UT will offer live stats and a video webcast for the game through TampaSpartans.tv.

Tickets may be purchased at the gate for $5 (adults) and $3 (senior citizens and students). UT students and faculty/staff are admitted free with a valid Spartan ID.

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.