
Mocs Take Series Opener Over Spartans
LAKELAND, Fla. - The No. 1 University of Tampa (17-5, 2-2 SSC) baseball team dropped its second straight game with an 11-5 loss to Sunshine State Conference rival Florida Southern College (10-8, 1-0 SSC) on Friday at Henley Field.
The Mocs struck in the bottom of the second inning on a solo home run by Jhalan Jackson, and tacked on a pair in the fourth to grab a 3-0 lead.
Tampa would add a run in the fifth on a Nick Flair home run, and another in the seventh on an Ian Townsend single that scored Casey Scoggins to make it 3-2 in favor of FSC.
Florida Southern would answer in both the seventh and the eight with four runs in each frame. The Spartans would fight back to make it 7-5 before the big eighth for the Mocs.
David Heintz (3-1) started for the Spartans, pitching 6.1 innings with nine hits, seven runs and six strikeouts. One of the winningest pitchers in UT history, Heintz suffered his first career loss as the ace now stands at 17-1 in his Spartan career.
Ben Richardson (2-3) registered the victory for Florida Southern, throwing 7.2 innings while surrendering nine hits and four earned runs with four strikeouts.
Scoggins led Tampa at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a pair of runs and an RBI. Flair also added two hits for the Spartans.
Saturday's doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m., with a pair of 9-inning games. Live stats will be availablke through Tampa.Statbroadcast.com.
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.