Spartans Sweep Panthers in Top-10 Showdown

MELBOURNE, Fla. - The No. 9 ranked University of Tampa Spartans baseball team took two games from the No. 6 Florida Tech Panthers in a doubleheader on Saturday. The two wins complimented their win Friday evening, completing a sweep of the Panthers.

Michael Calkins got the nod for the Spartans in Game 1 and was in search of his 3rd win of the season. After a bumpy first inning and allowing 1 run, Calkins settled in and cruised through the next 3 innings, keeping the Panthers scoreless. After loading the bases in the bottom of the 5th, Calkins day was over, finishing with 1 earned run allowed, 6 hits, 4 walks, and 3 strikeouts. Enough to get him his 3rd win of the season, making him 3-4 on the year.

Dylan Barrow came in for relief for Calkins and was able to get out of the bases loaded jam with only allowing 1 of the runs to score. Barrow rolled for the rest of the game, keeping the Panthers bats quiet. Barrow went 4.2 innings pitched only allowing 2 hits and 2 strikeouts. He played a big role in the Spartans Game 1 win.

The Spartan offense picked up where they left off on Friday night in Game 1. Andrew Amaro led the way for Tampa with 4 hits, 1 RBI, and 1 run scored. The Spartans scored a quick 2 runs in the top of the first thanks to a Stephen Dezzi RBI and Nick Flair solo home run. Like in Friday night's game, the Spartans didn't need much offense but provided it with ease. Nick Flair, Giovanny Alfonzo, and Stephen Dezzi all notched solo home runs to fuel the Tampa offense.

6 different Spartans registered RBI while 3 of them had multiple ones. Thanks to lights out pitching and defense and more then enough offense, the Spartans defeated the Panthers with ease in Game 2 by a final score of 9-2.

In Game 3 of the series and 2nd of the doubleheader, Brad Hencke got the start for the Spartans and like those who pitched before him, was able to cruise to victory. After giving up a solo home run in the bottom of the 2nd, Hencke settled in and was able to find some rhythm and rolled for the rest of his outing. Hencke finished 7 innings pitched allowing 6 hits, 3 earned runs, and had 3 strikeouts. Hence earned the win and stayed undefeated on the year at 5-0.

As for the Spartans offense, they steamrolled the Panthers pitching staff once again. Nick Tindall led the way for the Spartans hitting 3 doubles, registering 1 RBI and counting as 2 of the Spartans runs. The Spartans broke the game open with a huge 4th inning.

In the 4th inning, the Spartans batted through the order, leading off with a Nick Tindall double. Andrew Amaro brought Tindall around to score with a rope up the middle. Stephen Dezzi doubled deep to left-center to bring Casey Scoggins around from 1st to score. After loading the bases and registering a few singles, the Spartans managed to tally 5 runs in the 4th inning.

After Nick Flair's second home run of the day and a Brett Jones RBI single, the Spartans finished the top of the 9th scoring 11 runs total on the game. Taylor Brookes pitched 2 solid innings of relief work giving up no runs and getting the final outs of the Spartans 11-3 victory.

The University of Tampa Spartans baseball team completed a 3-game sweep of the Florida Tech Panthers in impressive fashion, moving them to 12-6 in SSC play this season. The Spartans managed to lead the Panthers in 26 of the 27 innings played over the weekend, pure domination from Tampa. The Spartans will be back in action Tuesday night at home against Embry-Riddle, first pitch will be at 5:00 PM from the University of Tampa.

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Game One Box Score

Game Two Box Score