The previously undefeated University of Tampa baseball team may have dropped its first three games, and the men’s basketball may still sit uncomfortably in the middle of the conference standings, but these are no reasons to lose faith in our teams.

Panicking now would be like rushing a child to the emergency room the first time it coughs.
This past weekend for Spartan sports wasn’t even a cough, much more of a hiccup.
Baseball dropped from first to tenth in the nation, allowing Sunshine State Conference rival Lynn to sit atop the rankings for a week.

As men’s soccer proved in the fall of the last two years, Tampa teams love to knock Lynn out of the top spot.

All three of UT’s losses were delivered by top-20 ranked teams. The only other SSC school in the rankings is Florida Southern that barely make the charts in the No. 25 spot.

Near the end of the season, the Spartans will play the majority of these conference matchups and easily tally up the win column.

The last regular season game doesn’t come until May 3, with 44 more chances to take the field between now and then.

To get worried over losing one-fifteenth of the remaining games, none of them in conference, is absurd.

Men’s basketball’s mediocre mid-season run will carry into the SSC tournament, set to tip off in early March.

Fortunately, the make-up game against Nova introduced Arnaldo Abreu.

A transfer from Florida Southern, Abreu debuted scoring 16 points and nabbing a few rebounds.

So while the regular season may have its twists, instead of forgoing hope of a national title the best thing to do would be to embrace the defeats.

Both baseball and basketball will enter the postseason better for having experienced the losses and have a clear vision of what it will take to advance to the next levels.

Bobby Winsler can be reached at minaret.sports@gmail.com.

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