Williams and Woodburn Help No. 1 Tampa Take Series Opener Over PBA

WEST PALM BEACH, FL. – The #1 University of Tampa Spartans took their series opener over Palm Beach Atlantic.

Final: #1 Tampa 9, Palm Beach Atlantic 4

Records: #1 Tampa (18-3, 4-0 SSC), Palm Beach Atlantic (10-9, 3-4 SSC)

Location: J.M. "Jake" Rubin Park | West Palm Beach, FL. 

All-Time Series: This was the 46^th meeting between these two programs. The Spartans now lead 39-7.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Jhoander Irigoyen led the inning off with a walk. With one out, Maddox King singled to the left to give the Spartans first and second. Jordan Williams would lay a bunt down that the Sailfish Pitcher would pick up and overthrow the Sailfish third baseman to bring in Irigoyen. With two outs, King would come into score on a balk by the Sailfish pitcher. J.D. Urso would bring in J. Williams with a single to right. Urso would then steal a second and come into score on a Brayden Woodburn single to left. Mid 3 | 4-2 Tampa
• With one out, Irigoyen would again start a rally with a single to left field. Nico Saladino followed with a double to give the Spartans second and third with one out. Irigoyen would score, and Saladino would advance to third on a passed ball. King then hit a sacrifice fly to center field to bring home Saladino. Mid 4 | 6-3 Tampa
• With two outs, Woodburn singled to right field. He then stole second. Lenny Ashby followed with a walk, and Woodburn advanced to third on a wild pitch. Woodburn then stole home to give the Spartans an insurance run. Mid 5 | 7-3 Tampa
• After a lead-off single by Irigoyen and a Saladino walk, the Spartans were in business with first and second, and nobody was out. After King laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Irigoyen and Saladino over. J. Williams singled to right field to bring home Irigoyen. Mid 8 | 8-3 Tampa
• Urso would lead off the inning with a triple and then come into score on a wild pitch. Mid 9 | 9-3 Tampa

AT THE PLATE:

• Woodburn: 3-4, 3 SB's, R, & RBI
• Urso: 2-3, SB, BB, 2 R's, & RBI
• Irigoyen: 2-3, BB, & 3 R's

ON THE MOUND:

• C.J. Williams started on the mound. He threw 8 innings, giving up 3 earned runs while striking out 3. Williams picked up his fifth win as a Spartan and is now 5-1 on the season.
• Eli Thurmond came in relief for Williams. He threw a scoreless 9^th inning while striking out 2.

UP NEXT: The #1 Spartans will wrap up their first road conference series of the season as they face Palm Beach Atlantic in a doubleheader starting at 12:00 PM, Saturday, March 15^th. Game two will be at approximately 3:00 PM, pending the game one result.