No. 1 Tampa Set to Conclude Regular Season with FIT Series
TAMPA, Fla. - The top ranked University of Tampa baseball team is set to conclude its regular season with a Sunshine State Conference series against Florida Institute of Technology. The shortened series will include a Sunday doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m., at the UT Baseball Field in a pair of nine-inning games.
Tampa has had a torrid season, owning a 45-2 overall record while winning its third consecutive SSC title with a 20-1 conference tally. UT has its highest winning percentage in program history with a .957 mark and is currently riding a 15 game win streak headed into the weekend series.
The Spartans swept then No. 8 Lynn University in their previous weekend matchup, leading to the 10th conference crown under head coach Joe Urso. Tampa outscored the Fighting Knights 23-9 as the UT offense was too much to overcome.
Tampa has spent the entire 2014 season as the top-ranked program and is anchored by a strong offense combined with dominating pitching. Junior Stephen Dezzi leads the Spartans with a torrid .381 batting average as the team combines for a .334 batting clip. The outfielder has seven home runs on the year in addition to a team-leading 42 RBI.
Complimenting Dezzi is catcher Nick Tindall, who sports a .345 batting average to go along with 11 home runs and 40 RBI while outfielder Michael Danner has eight homers and 38 RBI on the season.
The starting pitchers for Tampa have a combined 26-1 record as Preston Packrall (8-0, 1.32 ERA), David Heintz (8-0, 2.26 ERA) and Trey Oest (7-0, 2.40 ERA) have dominated opposing lineups under the leadership of Associate Head Coach Sam Militello.
The bullpen is led by senior Kevin McNorton and sophomore Michael Calkins who both own a 6-0 record as McNorton has notched 10 saves.
The Panthers of FIT are 25-20 on the season with a 9-12 mark in SSC play. In its last series, the team lost two-of-three against Barry University. In its most recent matchup, the Panthers took a 7-5 loss to fellow SSC foe Saint Leo University.
FIT is led by Austin Allen who is currently batting at a .349 clip along with six home runs and 33 RBI while Jimmie Koch owns the Panther home run lead with seven long-balls. The FIT pitching staff is led by starter Scott Ward (5-1) as the hurler has tossed 76.2 innings to the tune of a 2.00 ERA good for the team lead.
The Spartans own an 87-28 record all time against the Panthers, including a 2-1 series victory a season ago and a nonconference 5-3 victory earlier this season.
The first game is set for a 6 p.m. start Saturday evening while the Sunday twin-bill will begin at 1 p.m. with live stats as well as a live video webcast being made available through www.tampaspartans.tv.
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