#1 Tampa Baseball Handles #5 Florida Southern in Conference Opener

Tampa, Fla. – No. 1 ranked University of Tampa baseball team defeated Florida Southern in the Sunshine State Conference regular season opener behind a team-combined 20 strikeouts.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:

Final: #1 Tampa Spartans 10, #5 Florida Southern Mocs 1

Records: Tampa (7-3, 1-0 SSC), Florida Southern (8-3, 0-1 SSC)

Location: UT Baseball Field | Tampa, Fla.

All-time Series: Tampa still trails in the all-time series between the two with the record sitting at 104-102 in favor of Florida Southern. 

HOW IT HAPPENED: 

• Sophomore Luke McDonald was hit by a pitch to lead-off the inning and would later score on a bunt, giving the Spartans an early lead. || Bot. 2 || 1-0 UT
• Starting pitcher Brandon Knarr was dealing tonight as he had eleven strikeouts in just 4.0 innings pitched.|| Top 4 || 1-1 UT
• Jose Cadenas looked to spark the Spartans offense as he tripled to right center field driving in a run. Drew Ehrhard would continue his solid hitting as he drove in Cadenas on a single through the left side. || Bot. 4 || 3-1 UT
• Cadenas continued his hot start as he hit his second triple of the night, this time to left-center field. Mikey Navarrete would score on the play. || Bot. 6 || 4-1 UT
• Tampa continued to pile it on late in the game as the Southern pitchers struggled to find the strike zone, and the Spartans continued to drive the ball and find the gaps. || Bot. 8 || 8-1 UT

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Cadenas finished the night 4-for-5 with two triples and two RBI.
• Nick Derr went 3-for-4 on the night. 
• Knarr finished the night with 15 strikeouts with no earned runs.
  

OUTSIDE THE BOX:

• Brandon Knarr tied the record for the second most strikeouts in a single game with 15 strikeouts through seven innings. 
• Last time a Tampa pitcher notched 15 strikeouts was May 19^th, 2017 as Spartan alumni David Lebron struckout 15 batters against Nova Southeastern.
• The Tampa pitching staff set the single game strikeout record in a nine-inning game with 20. 

UP NEXT:

The Spartans will return to action tomorrow afternoon as they wrap up the series against Florida Southern. First pitch of the doubleheader is set for 1 p.m. and game two first pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.

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