Spartans Look to Continue Hot Streak Against ERAU

TAMPA, Fla. - The No. 6 University of Tampa baseball team will play host to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University on Tuesday at the UT Baseball Field at 5 p.m.

The Spartans are currently riding a five game winning streak, with each of the wins coming over a national top-10 opponent. The 30-11 Spartans took two from No. 10 Lynn and are fresh off a road sweep over No. 6 Florida Tech. UT is now 12-6 in Sunshine State Conference play and second in the league.

UT is also on the verge of a milestone victory as the program has 1,499 total wins. In that span, the Spartans have won six NCAA Division II national championships to go with 16 titles in both the SSC and NCAA South Region. Head coach Joe Urso owns 651 of the wins as the all-time winningest coach in program history.

Tampa boasts an offense that is hitting .331 on the season as junior third baseman Nick Flair top all Spartans with a .349 clip. He has also slugged nine home runs with a team-high 50 RBI. Stephen Dezzi leads the squad with 11 home runs. Andrew Amaro is coming off a weekend series where he hit .600 against FIT.

On the mound, Chase Sparkman picked up a complete game shutout in the series opener versus Florida Tech to boost the Spartans. Sparkman is now 8-2 with a 3.57 ERA. UT's pitchers now have a 4.14 ERA in 360.2 innings of work.

ERAU enters with a 31-15 overall record. The Eagles will join Palm Beach Atlantic University as the 10th and 11th schools in the SSC as the pair are set to be full-time members in the 2017-18 season. The Eagles are coming off a series with Southeastern University (Fla.) where they were swept.

Enderson Velasquez leads Embry-Riddle with a .400 batting average as Liam Goodall follows at .379. Goodall also holds team honors with three home runs and 51 RBI.

The Eagles boast a pitching staff that owns a 3.28 team ERA as closer Zac Grotz has been lights out with a 0.69 ERA, seven saves and 62 strikeouts in 52.1 innings pitched. ERAU has three regular pitchers with a sub-3.00 ERA.

Tickets will be available at the gate for $5. Children 12-and-under will be admitted for free. Gates will open 90 minutes before first pitch.

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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