Spartans Dodge Rams with 7-2 Win
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 1 |
|
|
0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 7 | 13 | 0 |
AIKEN, S.C. - The No. 1 University of Tampa baseball team completed a clean sweep of the Prestige Appliance Classic with a 7-2 win over Shepherd University. The Spartans improve to 6-0 on the season while the Rams move to a 0-3 record to start their campaign.
Rightfielder Zach Gawrych hit a perfect 3-for-3, scoring twice for UT while catcher Nick Tindall had a pair of hits to his credit.
Starting pitcher David Heintz (2-0) earned the win, throwing five complete innings, allowing two runs off six hits. The bullpen featured four shutout innings between reigning Sunshine State Conference Pitcher of the Week, Jake Mielock and the dominant Marcus Crescentini. Freshman Mielock tossed three innings allowing a single hit with two sent down on strikes. Out of the nine batters faced this season, Crescentini has struck out seven, including two in his inning of work.
Thirdbaseman Jacob Tillotson started the attack with a sacrifice fly in the second inning. The senior would come around to score thanks to a RBI double from Connor Obrochta, his fifth of the weekend. A batter later, infielder Orlando Rivera would trade places with Obrochta and give UT a 4-0 lead in the early innings.
Shepherd scored its first run with a RBI groundout in the fourth, but Tampa would answer with two runs in the home half of the inning. Senior Tyler Ding scored on a wild pitch that also moved Tindall to third. Designated hitter Stephen Dezzi hit a sacrifice fly to score the seventh run for the UT squad, who would go on to win 7-2.
Shepherd sophomore Sam Crater (0-1) was credited with the loss after pitching four innings and allowing seven runs off eight hits.
The Spartans will continue their road trip with a series against Georgia College, first game slated for a 1 p.m. start time, Saturday Feb. 15th. Live stats will be available through www.tampaspartans.com.
Fans may follow University of Tampa athletics on Twitter (www.twitter.com/utspartans), Facebook (www.facebook.com/tampaspartans), YouTube (youtube.com/utathletics) and Instragram (tampaspartans). UT also offers blAst, a free text messaging service that sends text alerts following all Spartan events. To sign up, please register at www.tampaspartans.com.