Spartans Prepare for Bucs Invasion
TAMPA, Fla. -The top-ranked University of Tampa baseball team is set to welcome Sunshine State Conference opponent Barry University for a weekend series. The first of the three-game set is slated for a 6 p.m. start time while the series will conclude with a Saturday doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
The Spartans narrowly escaped with a win against the Ravens Wednesday, as Tampa stymied a ninth-inning rally that stopped the tying run at third for Franklin Pierce. UT took the game 8-7 to improve to 25-1 on the season. The Tampa squad boasts a perfect 6-0 record in SSC matchups entering the weekend series.
Reigning SSC Player of the Week Stephen Dezzi leads the team with in batting average (.453), hits (39), slugging percentage (.733), RBI (26) and is tied for home runs with five. Catcher Nick Tindall shares the homer lead with five to his credit as the junior has totaled 34 hits and 23 RBI thus far. Centerfielder Connor Obrochta has a team high 34 runs and nine stolen bases as the leadoff hitter for the UT squad.
Sophomore Trey Oest (7-0) has had an impressive season thus far and currently leads the nation in wins and winning percentage (1.000). The right-hander boasts a 2.40 earned run average and leads the team with 43 strikeouts. Fellow sophomore starter David Heintz (4-0) has been a strong contributor to the Spartan rotation with an ERA of 2.36 in his seven starts.
The Buccaneers are coming off a 2-1 SSC series loss to Nova Southeastern, earning them a 17-8 season record and a 1-5 mark in conference play. Barry will turn to Sheehan Planas to get them back on track against the No. 1 team in the nation. Planas sports a .424 batting clip with 17 RBI, six stolen bases and four home runs.
The Bucs rotation is anchored by Adrian Benitez (3-1) as the sophomore has a 2.13 ERA over 38 innings of work.
Tampa owns the all-time series with a 65-23 margin, taking its 2013 series 2-1. Live stats as well as a live video webcast will be available through www.tampaspartans.tv for each game of the series.
Fans may follow University of Tampa athletics on Twitter (www.twitter.com/utspartans), Facebook (www.facebook.com/tampaspartans), YouTube (youtube.com/utathletics) and Instragram (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.