Tampa and Georgia College Set to Continue Rivalry

TAMPA, Fla. - Coming off a three-game sweep in its season opener, the University of Tampa baseball team will host annual opponent Georgia College for a three-game series on Saturday and Sunday.

The series will feature two days of action, beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m., at the UT Baseball Field. Sunday's game is set for 1 p.m.

The Spartans are the nation's No. 1 team according to two of the three polls. Both Perfect Game and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) have head coach Joe Urso's squad in the top spot. Collegiate Baseball Newspaper has UT at No. 2, behind 2015 opponent and defending national champion University of Southern Indiana.

UT is coming off a sweep over Bentley University, winning by scores of 5-1, 13-5 and 15-2.

The Spartans have three hitters posting a .500-plus batting average. Ty Cooler (.750) and Nick Tindall (.545) each hold the team-lead with six hits. Casey Scoggins is hitting .500 while Cody deNoyelles, Nick Flair and Stephen Dezzi each connected on a home run in the opening series.

The pitching staff saw a total of 10 hurlers on the mound in the Bentley series, with starters David Heintz and Brad Hencke yet to give up an earned run. Chase Sparkman also started and went five strong innings.

This will be the 2015 season opener for the Bobcats, who were 35-17 overall last season. GC also boasted a Peach Belt Conference record of 19-10.

Two players on the Georgia College baseball team were named to the 2015 National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association (NCBWA) Preseason All-American team, including Steve Hazel and Clay Ardeeser.

Hazel, a senior, was named as the catcher for the preseason All-American team due to his success last season. His slugging percentage led the league at .710 a year ago. He had a total of 13 home runs, 53 RBI and a batting average of .381. Ardeeser, also a senior, was named at first base after taking the league's batting average title at .424 last season. It was also the highest single-season average in the Peach Belt Conference (PBC) since 2010. He had a total of 10 home runs and 63 RBI in 2014.

Tampa owns a 37-18 all-time series record against Georgia College, and took two of three from the Bobcats last season in Milledgeville, Ga. Ut has also taken eight of the last nine meetings over the Bobcats. The two teams have now met every year since 1995, marking the longest matchup stretch for a non-conference opponent.

Tampa has been nationally ranked for 21 consecutive seasons dating back to 1994. Additionally, the Spartans have been a mainstay in the top-10 under Urso as they have been in the top-10 each of his 15 seasons at the helm. This also marks the sixth time that the Spartans are a preseason No. 1, and the second straight. The Spartans also own a string of 165 consecutive weeks in the national rankings.

Live stats and video will be available for all games. Fans may follow live stats at Tampa.Statbroadcast.com, or TampaStats.com on a mobile device. Fans may also watch live through TampaSpartans.tv.

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