No. 6 Tampa Takes SSC Series Over No. 20 Saint Leo
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Saint Leo
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 2 |
|
Tampa
|
2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | X | 13 | 15 | 1 |
Game 2
Game 2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Saint Leo
|
0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 16 | 1 |
|
Tampa
|
0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 2 |
TAMPA, Fla. - The No. 6 University of Tampa Spartans baseball team (33-12, 14-7 SSC) split an SSC doubleheader with the visiting No. 20 Saint Leo University Lions (33-13, 13-11 SSC), Saturday afternoon from UT Baseball Field. The Spartans took game one of the doubleheader by a 13-3 score before Saint Leo responded in the final game of the series to take the game, 12-5.
The first game of the doubleheader featured an offensive rally for the Spartans, as Tampa forced a stammering 13-3 win on 15 hits and five walks. The victory allowed the Spartans to head into the final game of the series with a two game lead.
The Spartans started early in the bottom of the first inning with back to back homeruns from Stephen Dezzi and Giovanny Alfonzo to set the score 2-1 going into the second inning.
The Lions picked up one in the top of the third, but the Spartans batted around in their at-bat, recording six hits and five runs to go up, 8-2. After Andrew Amaro led off with a single, Dezzi homered to center field for the second time in game one, bringing the score to 4-1. A Saint Leo pitching change then occurred, but the runs kept coming. Hits from Giovanny Alfonzo, Chris Pagliarulo, Cody deNoyelles, and Casey Scoggins wrapped up the inning with a six run Tampa lead.
Junior pitcher Michael Calkins held Saint Leo to just two runs through the sixth, setting up Tampa to dominate offensively. The Spartans scored again in the bottom of the sixth, as Casey Scoggins led off with a single up the middle. The following double up the middle off the bat of Dezzi continued the Spartans' momentum, and Tampa ended the inning with five hits and five runs, extending the lead to 13-3.
The Lions scored one run in three separate innings to no avail. Junior Michael Calkins earned the win in six innings pitched, allowing just two runs. Kevin Martin and Bryan Tarricone wrapped up the game with a combined three innings pitched, allowing only four hits.
The second game of the day looked much different from the first, as neither team scored in the first inning. It was Saint Leo who jumped on the scoreboard first in game two, scoring two runs on three hits and one Spartans error.
Trailing 2-0, Tampa responded in the bottom half of the inning to tie the score at 2-2. Scoggins was awarded one RBI on the play after recording a single and forcing a Saint Leo error that scored Ian Townsend and Brett Jones.
Saint Leo took back the two runs in the top of the third on a solo homerun and a double, regaining a two-run lead. After a scoreless fourth, the Lions then extended the lead to 7-2 on a base-clearing double in the fifth.
The visiting Lions tacked on another run in the top of the seventh and rallied for four more in the eighth. The Spartans recorded two runs in the seventh on two RBI from Pagliarulo and picked up another in the bottom of the eighth on a solo homer from Amaro.
After a scoreless ninth, the contest ended with a 12-5 score in favor of Saint Leo.
Junior lefty Brad Hencke took the mound for the Spartans in game two of the doubleheader, tossing two innings and allowing four runs on five hits. He would go on to earn the loss. Senior reliever Taylor Brookes pitched the next four innings, permitting four runs on five hits before junior Zac Favre came in to pitch the seventh. The righty allowed two runs on three hits.
Juniors Conner Andrews and Connor Ackerman combined to close out the eighth inning, giving up a two runs on two hits, and it was freshman Cody Martin who took the mound in the ninth, allowing just one hit in his first appearance of the season.
On the day, the Spartans recorded 27 hits and scored a total of 18 runs.
The Tampa Spartans will host their last games of the year at the UT Baseball Field with a three-game series against SSC opponent Rollins College, on Friday, May 1 at 6p.m. Live stats will be available through Tampa.Statbroadcast.com.
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