Spartans Open Up 2016 With Victory Over Falcons
Spartans Offense Comes On Late For Victory
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
|
|
0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | X | 7 | 13 | 2 |
TAMPA, Fla. - The University of Tampa baseball team opened up the 2016 season on Friday night as they defeated the Bentley University Falcons by a final score of 7-2. The win marked the Spartans first of the 2016 season and was their first step in their title defense.
Michael Calkins, the 2015 National Championship Series most outstanding player, started for the Spartans. Calkins went four innings with four strikeouts while giving up one walk and one run. The solo run was scored on an error and didn't count against Calkins.
Offensive play stayed consistent and quiet with the teams knotted at one, until the bottom of the fifth where J.D. Osborne led off the inning with a solo home run. The Spartans weren't done there, after loading the bases with one out, Kevin Santa brought Matt Piatt to the plate making it 3-1. Adrian Chacon followed the at bat with an RBI double, extending Tampa's lead to 4-1.
The Spartans added to their lead in the bottom of the sixth when Mitchell Preston plated J.D. Osborn with an RBI single. Preston was able to come around from first after a Danny Lee single. UT lead 6-1 after six innings of play.
Christopher Williams entered in relief for Calkins and went four innings with no earned runs, six strikeouts, and one walk. Williams with help from the Spartans defense set himself up for the win, making him 1-0 after his Spartans debut.
Game 2 of the series will be played tomorrow evening at 6 PM at the University of Tampa baseball field. The game will be available for live stream.
Fans may follow University of Tampa athletics on Twitter (www.twitter.com/tampaspartans), Facebook (www.facebook.com/tampaspartans), YouTube (youtube.com/utathletics) and Instagram (tampaspartans). UT also offers a free text messaging service that sends text alerts following all Spartan events. To sign up, please register at www.tampaspartans.com
