The Sunshine State Conference baseball matchups this year, just like in years prior, are crucial to the success of the University of Tampa Spartans – strength and talent are the backbones of these conference teams, and they should not be taken lightly.
Winning the SSC has proven to be a huge accomplishment in itself, as well as an optimistic stepping stone to further the team into the NCAA Regionals and possibly the NCAA National Championship.
Four of the last six seasons, the Division II baseball National Title has been taken home by a Sunshine State Conference program.
After Florida Southern claimed the D-II crown in 2005, UT captured back-to-back national championships in 2006 and 2007. There was a year-long drought before Lynn University won in 2009.
When it comes to baseball in the SSC, more often than not, it comes down to a battle between Tampa and longtime rival Florida Southern. Other than the Fighting Knights’ victory in 2009, only the Spartans and Moccasins have won national titles in the conference’s 36-year history.
“Going into the year, obviously people will talk about the University of Tampa and Florida Southern,” said Spartan Head Coach Joe Urso. “That’s not going to stop. They’re our rival, year in, year out and everyone knows that each team wants to come out on top.”
The Mocs are currently undefeated in conference play.
In recent years, however, the two squads have faced increased competition from the rest of the conference, primarily from the likes of Barry, Florida Tech and Nova Southeastern.
While the Spartans were the South Regional champions last season, a year which included an appearance in the NCAA II Champions in Cary, NC., it didn’t come easily and this year is no exception.
There is no more evident example of the strength of the conference than in the Spartans’ opening league series when they took on unranked Nova Southeastern University in a three game set.
“In the last few years, even though they haven’t made it to the [regional tournament], I’ve felt that they were on the verge of having a break-out year,” Urso stated. The Sharks have given Tampa trouble in the past and such a pattern resumed in 2011 as NSU convincingly took two-of-three to drop the Spartans in the national rankings. Nova, which finished third in the conference last season with a 15-9 record in the SSC (35-21 overall), currently stands in third this season at 7-2, 20-8 overall.
Urso believes that Nova seems to be bringing up a lot of “power guys.” The team was very careful when pitching to Nova and, more specifically, their big-hitter Andrew Durden, who is currently leading the squad with a .392 batting average and eight home runs.
With the weekend against Nova behind them, the Spartans are looking ahead at future conference matchups to redeem losses they have suffered. UT got back on track with a series win over Florida Tech.
Alongside Florida Southern, the only other team to remain undefeated in conference play is Barry University.
Barry’s number one pitcher, Manny Rodriguez, has pitched and earned a win in four shutouts on the season – the only four shutouts claimed in Buccaneer history.
With Barry on UT’s schedule in a few weeks, the Spartans are preparing themselves for the talent they may see.
Florida Tech pitcher Jonathan Cornelius is one of the top pitchers in the conference. Cornelius, who has already claimed an SSC Pitcher of the Week this season – the fourth of his career – is well-known around the conference.
The Tampa Spartans certainly do not underestimate this player. In fact, last year, as the regional seeds were being released, UT had some concerns.
“I was actually hoping to not end up with him on the mound in the regions,” Urso said. “That’s how much I respect that guy. He’s one of the top pitchers in our league.”
Cornelius currently has a record of 4-1 with a 3.50 ERA. He shut out UT in his only appearance against the Spartans this year, going the full nine frames while striking out seven.
The SSC is not an easy conference, with quality pitchers and big bats it makes a name for itself every year with the numbers it puts up.
“There are no breaks in the schedule,” said Coach Urso. “You can look at any conference and each year there may be a team at the bottom of the conference that maybe people don’t fear, but against [any] of the nine teams in the SSC, it’s not easy to sweep a three-game series. We beat up on each other week in and week out. It’s a very tough league.”
This tough league is the reason that four out of the last six D-II National Champions are rooted in the SSC – the talent and strength of this difficult conference prepares the teams for the tough competition that lies ahead, beyond the Sunshine State.
Tampa will look to make up ground in the conference as they host Saint Leo University for a three game series beginning April 1.
Maya Todd can be reached at mtodd@spartans.ut.edu
graphic looks siiiiiiick