Top-Ranked Spartans Lure Sailfish for Weekend Series

TAMPA, Fla. - One win shy of head coach Joe Urso's 600th victory, the No. 1 ranked University of Tampa baseball team welcomes Palm Beach Atlantic University for a weekend homestand. The first of three will be played Friday at 6 p.m. followed with a Saturday twinbill scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.

Urso is the program's all-time winningest coach with a record of 599-178-1 since taking the helm of the six-time national champion Spartans. The skipper is a three-time National Coach of the Year (2006, 2007, 2013) and has been the catalyst to three of the NCAA Division II baseball titles.

The Spartans enter the series with a 32-2 overall record and each of its two losses was to a nationally ranked program in Georgia College (No. 3) and rival Florida Southern (No. 16). In its last meetings, Tampa took a nonconference victory from Sunshine State Conference foe Florida Tech and won its series against then No. 16 Florida Southern 2-1.

The Spartans are led by junior Stephen Dezzi, who is enjoying a whale of a season with a .404 batting average to go along with five home runs. Transfer catcher Nick Tindall has been a force at the plate, sporting a .357 batting clip with a team-leading eight homers this season. The junior also leads the squad with 31 runs batted in.

The UT pitching staff has a combined ERA of 3.57 while the rotation features power arms David Heintz (6-0) and Trey Oest (7-0). The duo has limited opponents to less than 3.00 runs per game as Heintz features a 1.85 ERA while Oest boasts a 2.47 mark.

The bullpen is anchored by Kevin McNorton (2-0) and Michael Calkins (5-0) while righty Preston Packrall (4-0) has an ERA of 1.53 over 35.1 innings of work. Right-hander McNorton leads the team with eight saves this season.

The Sailfish enter the series with an overall record of 13-17-1 and are coming off a 1-3 week which they saw a series loss against No. 13 Nova Southeastern. PBA also dropped its most recent matchup against Lynn University by a 3-2 score.

Chris Farrell leads the Sailfish lineup with a .405 batting clip with 28 RBI as Ryan Drew shares home run honors with Joel Buchko and Spence Castro, the trio each notching three homers this season.

PBA closer Domonic Monda (3-1) has six saves while Tyler Sheuer leads with a 4.03 ERA in 29 innings of work.

The Spartans hold the all-time record against the Sailfish with a 9-5 margin as PBA took the 2013 series 2-1. Palm Beach Atlantic recently accepting provisional membership in the Sunshine State Conference and will begin competing officially in the 2014-15 academic year.

Live stats as well as a live video webcast will be made available for each game of the series through www.tampaspartans.tv.

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