Balanced Hitting, Dominant Pitching Leads No. 3 Tampa in Opener

TAMPA, Fla. – The Tampa Spartans won their Opening Day contest behind a complete team performance on the mound.

Final: No. 3 University of Tampa Spartans (5), Georgia College Bobcats (0)

Records: Tampa (1-0), Georgia College (1-1)

Location: UT Baseball Field || Tampa, Fla. 

All-Time Series: Tampa leads the series 56-23

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The first three Tampa batters reached base to start the bottom of the first inning. The Spartans opened the scoring with an RBI groundout by Drew Ehrhard with the bases loaded. | 1-0 Tampa.
• In the bottom of the fourth inning, Santiago Garavito added to the Spartans' lead with a solo home run to left field. | Tampa 2-0.
• Tampa doubled its lead in the bottom of the fifth inning when Anthony Nunez scored on a passed ball followed up by an E.J. Cumbo RBI single that scored Jordan Lala. | Tampa 4-0.
• Michael Paul was replaced by Dalton Ross in the sixth inning after tossing five scoreless innings while Tampa added its last run of the game when Jose Cadenas stole second, advanced to third on a throwing error, and scored an unearned run on the same play in the bottom half of the inning. | Tampa 5-0.
• Ross was replaced by Beckett White in the top of the eighth inning after two scoreless innings, which White followed up with two scoreless innings of his own to finish the game. | Final: 5-0

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Paul goes 5.0 IP, allowing 3 hits and striking out 7
• Garavito hit the 1^st home run of the 2023 season for Tampa
• Lala went 2-4 with 1 stolen base on the evening

UP NEXT: Tampa's series with Georgia College will continue tomorrow, February 4^th at 3:00 p.m. 

GAMEDAY MULTIMEDIA: Fans may watch all home games and Sunshine State Conference contests on TampaSpartans.tv. Live stats are also available through TampaStats.com. Follow UT Athletics: @TampaSpartans on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.