Dramatic Comeback Sends Tampa Baseball To Championship Series

Cary, N.C. - The University of Tampa's Baseball team was back on the diamond this afternoon for the final game of the semifinal round at the 2025 Division II College World Series. The Spartans are facing Northwest Nazarene for the third time this season in this winner-take-all matchup. Due to last night's rain out, the winner of this game will turn around and play game one of the championship series tonight at 6:00pm. 

Final: #1 University of Tampa Spartans 6, #5 Northwest Nazarene University Nighthawks 5

Records: Tampa (52-9),  Northwest Nazarene (46-15)

Location: USA Baseball Training Complex l Cary, North Carolina 

All-Time Series: This afternoon's game was the fourth meeting all-time between these two programs. With the win, Tampa takes a 3-1 lead in the series. 

HOW IT HAPPENED:

With a chance to punch their ticket to the national championship series, the Spartans turned to the nation's win leader, C.J. Williams on the rubber. In his first inning of work, Williams induced two weak fly balls before picking up his first strikeout of the day. Tampa's first crack at the plate saw Jordan Williams reach base with a leadoff walk but the Nighthawks worked around the traffic to match the zero in the first. The 0-0 deadlock ended in the top of the second as the Nighthawks sent seven batters to the plate and used a double plus an errand throw to score two runs. Trying to respond right away, Brayden Woodburn led off the bottom of the second with a single to right field. However, despite the leadoff batter reaching base for the second straight inning, NNU worked quick outs to keep the Spartans off the board. The third, fourth and fifth innings of this contest were dominated by pitching and defense. C.J. Williams and his Nighthawk counterpart did not allow a base runner to reach second base during this span. In the top of the sixth, Williams tossed his second straight 1-2-3 inning, keeping the Spartans within striking distance. Unfortunately for Tampa, they were unable to earn baserunners and went down in order in the bottom half of the sixth. After five straight scoreless innings, NNU broke through again in the top of the seventh. After a leadoff walk, the next Nighthawk batter hit a home run off the top of the wall and the Nighthawk lead grew to 4-0. The Spartans were once again held without a run in the bottom half and the NNU bats stayed hot. The Nighthawks added another run in the top of the eighth on a hard hit line drive that just got over the right field wall. The next two batters reached on free passes but Ryan Stefiuk was handed the ball and escaped the two base runner jam. Needing a response and a jolt of life back into the Spartans, Cole Russo led off the bottom of the eighth with a solo shot off the batter's eye in deep center field. While this home run cut the lead to four, no other Spartans was able to reach base to keep the inning going. Despite the four run deficit, Tampa was not going to go away silently. J.D. Urso led off the bottom of the ninth with a base hit to left field. The next batter Brayden Woodburn crushed a ball into the right center gap for a stand-up triple, scoring Urso from first base. With the NNU lead cut to three, Edgardo Villegas drew a walk to bring the tying run to the plate without an out recorded. Kevin Kastetter came up to the plate and delivered the biggest swing of the season for Tampa, rocketing a no-doubter over the wall in left field to clear the bases and tie the game up at 5-5. The next two batters (Jake Griffith and Jordan Williams) both reached base on free passes to put the winning run at second base. After all the big swings from the Spartans, it was a pick off attempt that went down the right field line that allowed Griffith to score all the way from second to win the game. Down 5-1 entering the ninth (5-0 entering eighth), the Spartans stormed all the way back to walk-off the Nighthawks and punch their ticket to the national championship series.  

AT THE PLATE:

• Brayden Woodburn - 2-4 3B, RBI

• Kevin Karstetter - 1-4 HR, 3 RBI 

• Cole Russo - 1-3 HR, RBI

ON THE MOUND:

• C.J. Williams - 6.1 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 4 SO

• Ryan Stefiuk - 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 ER

• Ethan Brown - 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 SO 

UP NEXT: The Tampa Spartans have advanced to the 2025 National Championship Series for the second year in row and will defend their title against Central Missouri. After completing one of the best comebacks in NCAA Tournament history, the Spartans will have just a few hours to reset before the best-of-three series begins. First pitch for game one of the national championship series is slated for 6:00pm tonight (6/6/25).