No. 1 Spartans Upend Defending Nat’l Champs, 8-2, in Friday Night Action
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 3 |
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1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | X | 8 | 13 | 0 |
TAMPA, Fla. - In a Friday night showdown against the 2014 National Champions, the No. 1 University of Tampa Spartans baseball team (7-0) defeated the visiting University of Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles (0-1) by an 8-2 score. The victory continued the Spartans' undefeated streak.
Friday night starter David Heintz got the start in Tampa's seventh-straight victory. The junior tossed six complete innings, allowing just four hits in 22 batters faced.
Junior Dylan Barrow took the mound in the seventh inning in relief, allowing one walk and striking out two in one inning pitched. Sophomore Jake Mielock tossed the eighth and ninth innings, allowing just one hit in seven batters faced. He struck out three.
The Spartans jumped on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first inning, when senior Ian Townsend sent a sacrifice fly to the outfield and scored junior Casey Scoggins.
In the top of the fourth inning, the visiting Eagles tied the score at 1-1 with a sacrifice fly of their own, but Tampa responded in the bottom of the fifth inning with a three-run rally to take back the lead. Senior Andrew Amaro led off the inning with an infield single and advanced to third on a single from Scoggins. With runners on the corners, senior Giovanny Alfonso ripped a double to centerfield that scored both runners and gave the Spartans a 3-1 lead. Junior Nick Flair then stepped to the plate and sent a single down the left-field line that scored Alfonso and propelled Tampa's lead to 4-1.
The top of the sixth inning featured another Southern Indiana run, but a homerun from Nick Tindall in the Spartans' half of the inning gave Tampa back their three-run lead.
Tampa picked up another run in the bottom of the seventh when the Eagles walked in a Spartans' run, bringing the lead to 6-2. In the bottom of the eighth however, Tampa garnered two more runs on three singles and a USI error. Both Flair and Townsend recorded RBI in the inning.
As the Tampa defense held the Eagles in the top of the ninth, the Spartans cruised to an 8-2 victory over the 2014 NCAA Division II National Champions.
Tampa will return continue the series on Saturday, February 14 with a 6 p.m. contest against Southern Indiana. Live stats as well as a live video webcast will be available through www.tampaspartans.tv.
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