Spartans Sweep Sharks on Senior Day
Game 2
Game 2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Nova Southeastern
|
0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 4 |
|
Tampa
|
6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | X | 12 | 14 | 0 |
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Nova Southeastern
|
0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 4 |
|
Tampa
|
3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 0 | X | 20 | 21 | 0 |
TAMPA, Fla. - The No. 1 University of Tampa baseball team won the two games of a doubleheader against No. 7 Nova Southeastern University on Saturday to complete the sweep of the anticipated Sunshine State Conference series. The sweep secures the Spartans as the sole SSC champions of the 2012 season. Saturday also marked the Spartans' senior day in which thirteen Tampa seniors were recognized for their memorable time spent at UT.
The Spartans took the first game by a towering 15-run margin. Tampa posted a total of 21 hits off of Nova's pitching staff as Tampa's held the NSU offense to 11.
Spartan scoring began early in the first inning when senior Damon Elder notched a solo homerun over the left field wall to put the Spartans up 1-0. The Spartans' offense would go on to score 19 more runs in the game, defeating the Sharks 20-5.
Sophomore Zach Gawrych went 4-for-5 in the contest with one triple and two RBI. Senior Andrew Jones also batted in two runs in his 3-for-4 outing. Shane Rowland entered the game as a defensive replacement and batted a perfect 2-for-2 with one RBI.
Elder, Jones, and sophomore Tyler Ding each recorded a homerun in the contest. Elder and Jones' homers brought in one run while Ding's plated three.
Senior southpaw Sean Bierman pitched five complete innings for the Spartans. Bierman struck out eight Sharks and walked none while allowing two earned runs off six hits. Junior Michael Zaccardo threw three innings of relief for Tampa. The righty struck out two while allowing three hits and one earned run. Senior Ryan Kennedy pitched one inning of work to seal the victory for Tampa.
The win marks Bierman's eighth of the season.
Tampa's bats stayed hot in the second game of the twin bill. Senior Heath Pritchard finished the matchup 2-for-3 with two solo homeruns, making him the team's homerun leader with nine on the season. Raiko Alfonso and B.J. Zimmerman also sent one of each of their hits over the wall for a four-bagger. Alfonso went 3-for-4 in the contest with five RBI while Zimmerman's homer drove in three runs.
Tampa totaled 14 hits in the game compared to Nova's nine.
Junior Ben Brown started the second game for Tampa. Brown threw 5.0 innings of work, allowed just four hits and one earned run while striking out five Sharks. Seniors Evan Stobbs and Aaron Gerbasi each threw one inning of relief to close out the victory for the Spartans.
Tampa defeated Nova Southeastern in the second game, 12-4, to sweep the doubleheader and the three-game conference series. The Spartans outscored the Sharks 42-10 over the course of the three games.
The Tampa squad will await the announcement of the NCAA DII South Region tournament participants and location which is set to be held on May 17-20.