The nationally ranked number six Spartans face one of their more difficult opponents this weekend when they will play the twelfth ranked Florida Tech Panthers. Adding to the importance of the three game series is the rivalry between the two, with the
Panthers being a Sunshine State Conference foe.
Florida Tech is 7-5 in conference play while UT stands atop the SSC with a 9-0.
Head Coach of the Spartans, Joe Urso, feels that this series is huge if UT wants to distance themselves from Florida Tech in the standings.
“They have five conference losses already, so it’s a big weekend where if we can get the better of them, you could put them in a little bit of a hole as far as a conference championship,” Coach Urso said.
The Spartans have been on a tear as of late, winning all of their games in the month of March.
One Spartan pitcher is pointing to team chemistry as the reason for the recent winning streak.
“I think now, especially right now, we’re just rolling, and everybody’s jelling,” said junior Josh Bowman. “The team chemistry is just unbelievable right now.”
Bowman is expected to be Tampa’s starting pitcher for the second game of the double-header on Saturday night, March 27.
The storyline for this series will be the battle of the two pitching staffs, with both teams being exceptional in terms of pitching.
Bowman feels that if the Spartan lineup can score some runs early and often against the Panthers, it will make his job on the mound much easier.
“I think it all starts with our hitters,” Bowman said. “If we come out of the gates and give the hitters a chance to just come up and swing the bats well like they’ve been doing, [then] pitching is really easy when you’ve got a lot of runs.”
Senior Correy Figueroa must face Florida Tech from an offensive standpoint.
As Tampa’s shortstop, Figueroa is aware of Florida Tech’s talented pitching, but is not concerned.
“Obviously, since they’re ranked they’re gonna have some good pitchers, so we’ll be ready for it,” Figueroa said.
The first game of the series, Friday, March 26, junior pitcher Sean Bierman will get the nod to start for the Spartans.
Assistant Head Coach and Pitching Coach Sam Militello says Bierman must repeat his solid performance from last week to be successful against Florida Tech.
“He’s just gotta do what he did this past weekend,” Militello said. “[He’s] using all his pitches and he did a great job of that at Lynn [last] weekend so hopefully he’ll be able to do that again this weekend.”
Returning to the mound after recovering from the flu which sidelined him for over a week, Bierman most recently pitched five innings in relief on March 1, allowing only two hits and no runs in a winning effort versus Lynn.
Coach Urso credited the return of Bierman and closing pitcher Evan Stobbs, along with the consistency of the entire pitching staff, as a reason for Tampa’s success this month.
“We feel like if we can get five solid innings out of the starters, it’s a little bit easier to hand that ball over to the bullpen,” Urso said. “That’s why we’re having success early on; it all starts with the pitchers.”
Looking at the style of game Florida Tech plays, both Coach Urso and Militello described the Panthers as an aggressive team, whether it be on the base paths or the mound.
“They play a very aggressive game, especially on the base paths, so our pitchers and catchers are gonna need to do a really good job of controlling the running game,” said Urso.
The SSC battle between the Panthers and Spartans will take place on Spartan turf here at the University of Tampa on Friday, March 26 and with the double-header on Saturday, March 27.
Still with half the season left, the Spartans know this series will have played an important role after the year is all said and done.
“Any win against them is gonna be a big win, so hopefully this weekend will be pretty good to us,” Figueroa said.
The Spartans lead the all-time series against SSC rival Florida Tech.
Daniel Feingold can be reached at dfeingold@ut.edu.