Spartans Take Series 2-1 With Doubleheader Sweep Over Panthers
MELBOURNE, Fla. - The No. 16 University of Tampa Spartans rebounded from Friday's loss to Florida Tech to sweep the Panthers in Saturday's doubleheader, taking game one 3-2 and game two 5-1. The series win moves the Spartans to 30-11 overall and 8-4 in the Sunshine State Conference, while FIT drops to 24-15, 7-8 in the SSC.
The first game saw six scoreless frames from Tampa's John Wiedenbauer and Florida Tech's Jake Koch (3-6). Ryan McChesney broke up the deadlock with a solo home run off Wiedenbauer to give FIT the 1-0 lead in the seventh. It was in the sixth inning, however, that Florida Tech threatened. With the bases loaded with Panthers and a full count on Kevin Villa, Casey Albanese made a game-saving grab on a liner over the third base bag to keep the contest scoreless.
After Wiedenbauer walked two following the home run in the seventh, Tommy Meagher (4-2) replaced him on the hill to get out of the jam. Down a run in the eighth, Tyler Cox led off the inning with a double down the right field line before Mike Schwartz brought him in with a single to knot the game at 1-all. With the bases loaded, Jared Simon drove the ball deep to the center field wall to score two and give the Spartans their first lead of the afternoon.
Alex Koronis (5) inherited runners on the corners in the eighth as he came on to relieve Meagher with the Spartans ahead 3-2. In his second appearance within 24 hours, Koronis closed out the game for Tampa to earn his fifth save of the season, striking out three batters in just one and two-thirds innings of work.
The Spartans got on the board in the first inning of game two against FIT's Randall Thompson as Albanese continued his strong play, singling in Simon for the 1-0 lead. Cox legged out an infield single in the fourth to score Albanese who reached with another base hit to push the Tampa lead to 2-0.
Albanese continued to spark the UT lineup when he added a two-RBI double to right-center in the fifth that added insurance runs to back starter Daniel Foltz (2-0). Foltz finished the game allowing one run on eight hits while walking none and striking out two through five and two-thirds innings of work. A.J. Pinera (1) entered in the sixth for Foltz and finished out the game without allowing a run to earn the save.
Tampa welcomes SSC opponent Saint Leo on Friday for the start of a three-game weekend series. The Spartans defeated the Lions on Tuesday in a nonconference meeting 9-2. UT will offer livestats through www.tampaspartans.com.