Spartans Come Through in Ninth to Extinguish Fire

Box score

TAMPA, Fla. - The No. 8 University of Tampa (25-10) baseball team received a scare by Southeastern University, Fla. (30-15), but prevailed with a two-run ninth to take an 8-7 victory.

The Spartans started strong with a two-run first as Nick Flair blasted a 2 RBI home run that scored Giovanny Alfonzo following his single.

Southeastern responded with three in the second to grab the lead over UT, and would add another in the third to extend its lead to 4-2.

Tampa would even the score at 4-4 in the fourth as Cody deNoyelles slugged a leadoff home run. Following a Nick Tindall single, freshman Michael Kleinman would drive home Tindall with a single.

UT regained the lead in the fifth as Alfonzo and Ian Townsend each drew a walk, and later advanced on a wild pitch. Chris Pagliarulo would then drive home Alfonzo, allowing the Spartans to re-take the lead.

Casey Scoggins would extend the UT lead to 6-4 in the sixth as he drove home Vin Cosenzo on a single.

Southeastern led off the ninth with a pair of singles, and would stun the crowd when T.J. Glessner connected on a three-run home run to right field, giving the Fire a 7-6 lead over the Spartans.

In its final at bat, Tampa came through with a number of clutch at bats as Scoggins was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the ninth. Following an Alfonzo sacrifice bunt, Scoggins would steal third and tie the game on a single by Flair. Following a Stephen Dezzi walk, Pagliarulo then drew a walk to load the bases with one out. deNoyelles then drove home the game-winner on a dropped fly by the right fielder.

Jake Mielock started for Tampa, and was relieved by Connor Andrews, Brett Jones, Chris Frosch, Logan LaPace and Zac Favre. Jones threw 3.0 scoreless innings with no hits, as Favre (1-0) would be credited with the win while throwing the final 0.1 innings with a strikeout.

Scoggins, Tindall and Flair each registered two hits on the game, with Flair driving in three and scoring two runs, including the game winner.

The Spartans will next entertain No. 10 Lynn University in an important Sunshine State Conference series in Tampa. The series begins with a single game on Friday at 6 p.m., followed by a 1 p.m., Saturday doubleheader. UT will offer a broadcast through TampaSpartans.tv.

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