Two, One Run Ballgames Give No. 1 Spartans Series and Double-Header Sweep Over Sailfish

WEST PALM BEACH, FL. – The #1 University of Tampa Spartans sweep a doubleheader and the series against Palm Beach Atlantic.

Final (Game 1): #1 Tampa 8, Palm Beach Atlantic 7

Final (Game 2 – 12 innings): #1 Tampa 15, Palm Beach Atlantic 13

Records: #1 Tampa (20-3, 6-0 SSC), Palm Beach Atlantic (10-11, 3-6 SSC)

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

All-Time Series: This was the 47^th and 48^th meeting between these two programs. The Spartans now lead 41-7.

GAME ONE

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Brayden Woodburn would lead the inning off with a single to right field. Woodburn would eventually end up on third with two outs and then come into score on a wild pitch. Then Jhoander Irigoyen would reach base safely due to an error by the Sailfish first baseman, and he would advance to second on the play. Nico Saladino followed with a single to left field to bring home Irigoyen. Mid 2 | 2-2 Tie
• Edgardo Villegas and J.D. Urso led the inning, both getting plunked by a pitch. The two would advance to second and third to set the Spartans up in business. With one out, Woodburn would single to bring home Villegas and Urso. Mid 3 | 4-2 Tampa
• Saladino would execute a perfect bunt single and advance to third due to a throwing error by the Sailfish pitcher during the play. Jordan Williams followed by drawing a walk. Villegas then hit a sacrifice fly to center field to bring home Saladino. J. Williams showed he is the nation's stolen base leader by stealing second and third. Later in the inning, Lenny Ashby would bring home J. Williams with a sacrifice to right field. Mid 4 | 6-2 Tampa
• J. Williams singled to left field to lead off the inning. Villegas followed with a single to right field. Urso brought in J. Williams with a single to left field. Mid 6 | 7-5 Tampa
• After Maddox King reached base on a fielder's choice, he would come around to score on a two-out double to center-field off of the bat of Kevin Karstetter. Mid 8 | 8-5 Tampa

AT THE PLATE:

• Saladino: 2-3, SB, R, & RBI
• Woodburn: 2-4, R, & 2 RBI's
• Irigoyen: 2-5 & R
• Urso: 1-2, BB, R, & RBI
• J. Williams: 1-4, 3 SB's, BB, & 2 R's

ON THE MOUND:

• Jake Stipp started on the mound. He threw 4.1 innings, giving up 5 earned runs while striking out 3. Stipp ended with a no-decision on the afternoon.
• Jacob Fletcher came in relief for Stipp. He threw 2.2 scoreless innings while striking out 3. Fletcher picked up the win in his outing and is now 3-0 on the season.
• Michael Alfonso came in relief for Fletcher. He threw 2 innings and gave up 2 runs. Despite the rough outing, Alfonso picked up his 5^th save of the year.

GAME TWO

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• J. Williams led the game off with a single to left field. He would then come around to score on an RBI groundout by Urso. Mid 1 | 1-0 Tampa
• Urso led the inning off with a single to left field. Ashby followed with a walk, and the Spartans had first and second to start the inning. After Urso and Ashby advance on a wild pitch, Woodburn would make a productive out by grounding out to the Sailfish shortstop to bring home Urso and advance Ashby to third. Cole Russo then walked. Saladino would hit a flyball to the Sailfish center fielder that was mishandled and bring Ashby home. Mid 4 | 4-3 Palm Beach Atlantic
• J. Williams led the inning off with a double. He then stole third and came into score on the play as the Sailfish catcher made a throwing error. With one out, Urso doubled to left field. Ashby was up next and was plunked with a pitch. Later in the inning and with two outs, Russo doubled to bring home Urso and Ashby. Saladino then followed, hitting a groundball to the Sailfish first baseman that was botched. Russo would score on the play. Mid 5 | 7-4 Tampa
• A pitch plunked J. Williams to lead off the inning. He then stole second and advanced to third on a Villegas single to center field. Villegas advanced to second on the throw coming home from the Sailfish center fielder. Urso then hit a sacrifice fly to center field to bring home Williams and advance Villegas to third. Ashby then walked and stole second. Woodburn continued to swing a hot bat with a double to bring home Urso and Ashby. Woodburn would then come around to score on a wild pitch. Mid 6 | 11-5 Tampa
• Saladino would lead the inning off with a double to left-center and then advanced to third on a passed ball. With one out, Irigoyen would pinch hit and draw a walk. King would then run for him. J. Williams would hit a sacrifice fly to left field to bring home Saladino. King then advanced to second on a throwing error by the Sailfish pitcher during a pick-off attempt. Villegas then doubled to right-center to bring home King. Mid 9 | 13-11 Tampa
• Karstetter would pinch-hit and draw a walk. Mike Valdez followed with a single to left field. With one out, Russo walked to set the bases loaded up for the Spartans. Saladino followed with a sharp line drive to PBA right-fielder to bring Karstetter home. Santiago Garavito, due next, singled to left field to bring Valdez home. Mid 12 | 15-13 Tampa

AT THE PLATE:

• J. Williams: 3-5, 3 SB's, 3 R's, & RBI
• Garavito: 3-5, 2 BB's, & RBI
• Urso: 2-4, 2 R's, & 2 RBI's
• Saladino: 2-6, R, & RBI
• Villegas: 2-7, R, & RBI
• Russo: 1-5, 2 BB's, R, & 2 RBI's

ON THE MOUND:

• Skylar Gonzalez started on the mound. He threw 3 innings, giving up 4 earned runs while striking out 2. Gonzalez ended with a no-decision on the afternoon.
• Robert Satin came in relief for Gonzalez. He threw 5 scoreless innings while striking out 5.
• Eli Thurmond came in relief for Satin. He was only able to get one strikeout despite giving up 2 runs.
• Ryan Stefiuk came in relief for Thurmond. He threw 3.2 scoreless innings while striking out 4. Stefiuk picked up the win in his outing and is now 2-0 on the season.

UP NEXT: The #1 Spartans will conclude their four-game road trip with a Tuesday afternoon game on March 18^th at 2:00 PM against Albany State.