The University of Tampa Spartans overcame some shaky defense from their infield and used clutch late inning hits to defeat the Flagler College Saints 15-10 in the 2008 home opener.
The Spartans (3-0) committed six errors which led to seven unearned runs for the Saints (3-2), but they were rescued by some timely hitting from Nolan Brannon and Stephen Moreno who combined to plate six of the Spartans 15 runs.
“We are a resilient team, we’re not going to give up,” said Moreno, who went 3-for-5 and scored two runs to go along with driving in two runs. “Those guys (Flagler) put up a good fight. They came out with a lot of intensity.”
The Spartans jumped out to an early 3-1 lead in the bottom of the second inning utilizing their speed on the base paths.
The Spartans executed a perfect double steal as Garrett Maines and Brannon stole second and third, respectively. Steven Broschofsky walked to load the bases and then Ryan Williams grounded out slowly to second base to advance the runners and score Brannon. Maines then scored on a passed ball and on the next pitch, Broschofsky scored on a wild pitch.
The Saints took the lead back in the top of the third, capitalizing on three Spartan errors, one of which allowed two runs to score.
Merino and Brannon again came through to give the Spartans the lead in the bottom of the third inning.
Merino followed back-to-back walks to Paul Cruz and Jose Jimenez with a run scoring double.
Brannon then nailed a monster 3-run home run that nearly went over the screen in right field to give the Spartans a 7-5 lead. Junior Mejia hit into a fielders choice to give the Spartans an 8-5 lead.
The fourth inning saw the Spartans and the Saints exchange runs with the Spartans holding onto a 9-6 edge.
In the to of the sixth with the Spartans leading 9-8 the Saints executed a perfect hit and run, with Joey Kampfur hitting the ball right in the hole that was created by the running of Glenn Kiture.
Kampfur and Kiture both scored when Cale Owen smacked double to left field.
“This team never quits,” said Anthony Perez. “Just like last weekend when we were down, we came back. This team is able to fight.”
The Spartans then used a dominating performance from closer Anthony Perez and a three run seventh to put away the Saints.
“Tonight I wanted to just throw strikes early and establish the strike zone,” said Perez. “I wanted to use my slider for a first pitch strike and then get them out using my fastball and slider.”
After Williams was hit by the pitch he then stole second and moved to third on an infield single by Mejia.
Jesus Barroso then made a productive out by grounding out the right side of the infield, which allowed Williams to score.
Cruz then smacked a run scoring double and Marino followed with an RBI single giving the Spartans a 14-10 lead that they would not relinquish.
Freshman pitcher Joshua Bowman made his first career collegiate start going three innings giving up five runs (one earned) on five hits. Bowman also struck out four and walked four.