Spartans Set to Meet St. Edward’s After Offensive Onslaught
CARY, N.C. - After notching a 12-4 victory over Coker to start the 2013 NCAA Championships, the University of Tampa baseball team will face off against St. Edward's University on Tuesday at 7 p.m., in a winners bracket contest.
The Spartans and Hilltoppers will be the second of two games on the fourth day of the championships, which is scheduled to conclude with the national championship game on Saturday, June 1. All games are being played at Coleman Field at the US National Training Complex.
Tampa, playing in its 15th championship series, is coming off the victory over Coker that saw all nine Spartan starters register a hit. UT also slugged the first home runs of the championships, coming off the bats of Michael Danner and Jake Schrader. The Spartans also tied a school record with four triples and outhit the Cobras 16-5.
No stranger to the championship series, Tampa has won a total of five national championships. UT last won in 2007 and has also captured crowns in 1992, 1993, 1998 and 2006. The Spartans are playing in the program's 15th series.
UT enters with an overall record of 44-11, and has now won 40-plus games in 10 of the past 12 seasons. Under head coach Joe Urso, Tampa has advanced to the tournament in each of his 13 seasons at the helm as the program has now played in 14 straight postseason tourneys.
The Spartans are led by Sunshine State Conference and South Region Pitcher of the Year Mike Adams, who is 7-0 with six saves and a 2.31 ERA. In 58.1 innings, Adams has a team-high 73 strikeouts as opponents are hitting .212 against the senior lefty. Adams enjoyed a perfect effort against Coker, hurling 2.2 hitless innings with four strikeouts and no walks.
At the plate, Tampa sports a balanced attack that has seven starters hitting over .300. Led by Tyler Ding's .388 clip, Michael Danner and Jacob Tillotson follow closely at .362 and .360 respectively. Danner leads all Spartans with 50 RBI while Jake Schrader has slugged a team-leading nine home runs. Schrader has now homered in three consecutive postseason games.
St. Edward's rebounded from a game three loss to Texas A&M-Kingsville to win the South Central Region title with wins over St. Mary's and Kingsville. The Hilltoppers also turned in wins over Angelo State and Colorado Mesa to start the regional.
The Hilltoppers sport an overall record of 43-16 and have won nine of their past 10 games. St. Edward's also captured the 2013 Heartland Conference Tournament championship and posted a regular season record of 24-12 in league play.
At the plate, St. Edward's is led by Taylor Johnson and his .34 clip. Ransom LaLonde has a team-leading 45 RBI while 10 home runs by Marshall Burford are good for team honors. A total of five SEU players are hitting over .500 as the Hilltoppers have 73 sacrifice hits and 22 sacrifice flies.
Ace pitcher Brandon Easterling is coming off a 1-0 shutout victory over Grand Canyon to advance the Hilltoppers. He allowed just six hits while striking out seven in the win. Easterling now stands at 14-3 on the season with a 2.10 ERA. The Hilltoppers have a team ERA of 2.80 as Collin Sherrod (1.95) and Matt Davis (1.99) lead the way. Possible starter Cody Ellerbee is 5-4 with a 2.62 ERA.
Tampa and St. Edward's are set to meet for the first time in their respective program histories.
Live stats and a video broadcast will be available through the official tournament web site.
Click here for the official Web page of the 2013 NCAA Baseball Championships