Tampa Set to Begin NCAA Championships Against Coker
CARY, N.C. - Coming off an NCAA Division II South Regional title, the University of Tampa baseball team will play its first game of the 2013 NCAA Championships on Sunday at 1 p.m., against Coker College.
The Spartans and Cobras will be the first of two games on the second day of the championships, which is scheduled to conclude with the national championship game on Saturday, June 1. All games are being played at Coleman Field at the US National Training Complex.
Tampa, which is coming off a 20-7 victory over West Florida in the South Region title game, is playing in its 15th championship series as it has won five national championships. UT last won in 2007 and has also captured crowns in 1992, 1993, 1998 and 2006.
UT enters with an overall record of 43-11, and has now won 40-plus games in 10 of the past 12 seasons. Under head coach Joe Urso, Tampa has advanced to the tournament in each of his 13 seasons at the helm as the program has now played in 14 straight postseason tourneys.
The Spartans are led by Sunshine State Conference and South Region Pitcher of the Year Mike Adams, who is 7-0 with six saves and a 2.43 ERA. In 55.2 innings, Adams has a team-high 69 strikeouts as opponents are hitting .220 against the senior lefty.
At the plate, Tampa sports a balanced attack that has six starters hitting over .342. Led by Tyler Ding's .387 clip, Jacob Tillotson and Michael Danner follow closely at .361 and .356 respectively. Danner leads all Spartans with 46 RBI while Jake Schrader has slugged a team-leading eight home runs.
Coker came all the way from being the No. 4 seed to winning the Southeast Region over Georgia College. The Cobras also mounted victories over top-ranked Mount Olive, USC-Aiken and Armstrong.
The Cobras sport an overall record of 38-14 and have won eight consecutive games. Coker also won the Conference of the Carolinas championship, topping in a pair of games on April 28.
Coker is led by Fico Kondla, who is hitting .423 on the season with a team-high 47 RBI and 23 stolen bases. The Cobras have six starters hitting over .300, as the team comes in at .314. Coker also has 128 stolen bases, compared to 60 for Tampa.
Dan Meyer is the leader of Coker's pitching staff, leading the squad with an 8-3 record. In 105.1 innings, the senior lefty has 86 strikeouts and a 3.76 ERA. Zach Loraine is the team's closer, racking up 15 saves with a 2.40 ERA.
Tampa and Coker are set to meet for the first time in their respective program histories. Live stats and a video broadcast will be available through the official tournament web site.
Click here for the official Web page of the 2013 NCAA Baseball Championships