With the month of February behind us, the Spartans are showing no sign of letting down from their national title winning season that ended last May.
The University of Tampa baseball team is still number one in the nation after an impressive 11-1 start to the season. After the Spartans’ win against Shepard in Aiken, S.C., they played a three game series against Georgia College. They split the first two games of the series, but in rubber game, UT came out on top in a blowout by the final score of 13-0.
Senior center fielder Connor Obrochta led the charge with three hits and four runs batted in the process. Catcher Nick Tindall and utility man Tyler Ding each had solo home runs to add on to the offensive barrage. The Spartans’ spectacular play is led by their bullpen. Pitchers Kevin McNorton and Brett Jones have recorded an astounding 0.00 earned run average (ERA). Jones credits other aspects that have led to the team’s success.
“Our team’s solid play on defense and our production in two-out situations have been huge,” Jones said.
Ever since that victory, UT came up with a sweep of Albany State by scores of 9-4 in game one, 7-1 in game two and 17-9 in game three. Sophomore transfer Trey Oest picked up his fourth win of the year, which improved his record to 4-0.
Ding went a perfect five for five in game one and tallied another two hit game in game three. In addition, six players notched multiple RBI’s in the final matchup. Ding was later named SSC Player of the Week and the NCBWA South Region Hitter of the Week.
“I am happy with the start but there is always room for improvement all around,” Head Coach Joe Urso said.
In the upcoming weeks, things will not get easier as the heart of season starts to unfold. UT will begin conference play against St. Leo from March 7 to 9 and then a three game series against Rollins later in the month from the March 14 to the doubleheader on March 15.
Players and coaches agree that they need to raise the bar to be successful in SSC play. Overall, Coach Urso seems pretty happy with the bullpen, but he addressed some flaws that need to be fixed moving forward.
“We need to find more consistency from starters and we have made too many defensive mistakes. The competition we have faced has made us a better team and has prepared us for conference games, especially pulling out the close games,” Urso said.
“We need to keep the same mindset and treat every game the same while we play the way we should,” Oest said.
The Spartans have encountered minor problems to start the season, but they are still on top of the nation moving into the month of March. Coach Urso and the Spartans have their work cut out for them as conference play commences.
Phil Novotny can be reached at philip.novotny@spartans.ut.edu.