No. 1 Tampa Set to Welcome Defending SSC Champs For Weekend Series

TAMPA, Fla. - The No. 1 ranked University of Tampa baseball team will host Sunshine State Conference defending champion and current frontrunner Barry University for a three-game weekend set at the UT Baseball Field.

The series will begin with a 6 p.m., Friday contest and will conclude with a 1 p.m., doubleheader on Saturday.

Tampa, which is currently 25-6 overall, stands at 7-5 in SSC play and are winners of eight of its last nine games. The Spartans boast a starting pitching staff of Ben O'Shea (3-1, 2.68 ERA), Sean Bierman (4-2, 2.42 ERA) and Ben Brown (4-2, 3.25 ERA). SSC Pitcher of the Week Preston Packrall has been stellar in relief, recording six saves with a team-best 1.11 ERA.

Zach Gawrych leads UT at the plate as the sophomore outfielder hit .500 with three triples in four games last week. He now holds a team-leading .394 batting average as fellow sophomore Connor Obrochta is hitting .392.

Barry is 15-14 overall and 8-4 in SSC action. The Buccaneers dropped two of three games to Nova Southeastern University last week, but owns SSC series victories over Florida Southern, Saint Leo and Eckerd, sweeping the latter.

The Bucs are led by ace Jordan Wellander, who leads the team with a 5-3 record and 2.66 ERA. He is also tied with Kevin Youst for team honors with 34 strikeouts. Sheehan Planas (.319) and Michael Slabach (.315) are both hitting over-.300 for Barry.

Tampa holds a 60-22 lead in the all-time series, despite losing four games to the Bucs in 2011. After sweeping the regular-season series, Barry ended UT's season at the NCAA South Regional with a 5-2 win on May 21. The Buccaneers have won six straight over Tampa heading into the weekend series.

UT will offer live stats and a video webcast for all games 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.