Spartans Hit Five Home Runs To Earn Spot In South Regional Championship Game

TAMPA, Fla. - Behind a strong display of power, the No. 2 University of Tampa baseball team defeated No. 3 Southern Arkansas University blowout fashion on Saturday night at the UT Baseball Field with a 20-5 rout in the winners' bracket final of the NCAA II South Regional Baseball Tournament. The Spartans move to 45-8 on the year while SAU drops to 45-9.

Each of Tampa's starting nine notched at least one hit as the Spartans tallied 17 in the contest. The 20-run outburt ranks second in the UT record books for the most runs scored in a postseason game.

Jared Simon led the charge as he reached base all six times he stepped to the plate, scoring four times and driving in five. With two outs and two on in the first inning, the junior drove a 1-2 fastball from Mulerider starter Dan Bream over the wall in left-center for his 11th home run of the season to give UT a 3-1 lead. An inning later the Tampa native added another blast for his 12th. Simon would finish his day a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate as he also drew a walk and was twice hit by a pitch.

The UT offense backed starter John Wiedenbauer (8-1) who tossed six innings to earn the win. After allowing a run in each of the first two innings, Wiedenbauer settled down nicely to allow only one hit through his final four innings of work.

Dylan Brown, Larry Walicki and Brad Roberts also registered home runs for Tampa. Roberts hit his two-run home run to the deepest part of the ballpark - straight-away center - in the fourth inning. He finished the game 2-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored.

Brown and Walicki homered in consecutive innings, starting with Brown in the sixth. Brown's two-run shot put Tampa ahead by 12 runs, while in the seventh Walicki's pinch-hit, two-run homer notched Tampa's total at 19. Brown finished 3-for-6 with three runs scored and a pair driven in. He was a double shy from hitting for the cycle.

Correy Figueroa batted 3-for-6 with four runs scored and a run driven in. Patrick Donahue reached base safely three times as he notched a pair of runs scored. Designated hitter Mike Schwartz pushed his nation-leading walk total to 72 as he matched a career high by earning the free pass four times against the Muleriders.

The Spartans used three relievers to follow Wiedenbauer. Daniel Foltz tossed two-thirds of an inning allowing one earned run on three hits. Max Kreuter threw one and one-thirds innings, retiring the four Muleriders he faced in order. Tom Meagher threw the final inning and recorded two strikeouts while sitting down SAU in order.

Tampa will have an off day on Sunday and play for the South Regional championship on Monday at 11 a.m. The opponent will be determined Sunday afternoon as the three teams remaining in the losers' bracket will fight for a spot in the regional championship.

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