No. 1 Tampa Set to Face No. 6 Southern Indiana in National Finals
CARY, N.C. - Tasked with defending its 2013 title, the No. 1 University of Tampa baseball team is set to begin NCAA Division II Baseball National Finals play on Saturday at 1 p.m. against the No. 6 ranked University of Southern Indiana at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N. C.
The Spartans will test their record-setting 51-2 campaign against the 45-12 Screaming Eagles to open the baseball national finals.
The appearance is the 16th NCAA Division II Baseball National Tournament for Tampa and the eighth under head coach Joe Urso. UT will look for its seventh baseball national championship and fourth since 2006.
Senior Tyler Ding leads the Spartan offense, batting a torrid .393 clip this season. The third baseman leads the team with 72 hits to go along with 38 RBI. Designated hitter Stephen Dezzi leads the squad with 45 RBI behind a .372 batting average. The junior also has eight home runs on the year.
The pitching staff is anchored by a strong starting trio of Preston Packrall (10-0, 1.93 ERA), David Heintz (10-0, 2.18 ERA) and Trey Oest (8-0, 2.09 ERA). Oest pitched a complete-game shutout in the South Region final against No. 24 Florida Southern College en route to a 3-0 victory.
Senior Kevin McNorton has been a force out of the bullpen, combining a 7-0 record along with 11 saves at a 1.88 earned run average.
USI is led by sophomore Kyle Kempf who is sporting a .352 batting average with three home runs and 33 RBI while senior Jonathan Wandling leads the starting rotation with a 9-1 record and a 2.60 ERA.
The Screaming Eagles enter the baseball national finals after defeating Drury 4-2 in the Midwest Regional Final. USI took the 2010 crown and enter the national tournament for the third time in program history. The Saturday meeting marks the first contest between the two squads
The game will be featured live at www.ncaa.com with live stats and webcast will also be available on the Mount Olive tournament page.
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