A busy offseason filled with a new field, new faces, and an eye-opening trip to the Dominican Republic has The University of Tampa baseball team ready for Opening Day against Georgia College on Friday.
This year’s roster is compiled with 16 new names made up of 13 transfers and three freshmen. However, a full team effort contributes to the Spartans’ No. 1 ranking by Sunshine State Conference (SSC) coaches, No. 3 ranking by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, and No. 8 ranking by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) in each respective preseason poll.
In the lineup, Tampa brings back four all-SSC players who batted over 0.300 through at least 150 at-bats in graduate senior utility player Drew Erhard returning for a sixth season, along with outfielders in senior Jordan Lala, junior E.J. Cumbo and sophomore shortstop J.D. Urso.
The Spartans were supposed to bring back a fifth 0.300 hitter in first baseman Dan Sullivan, who is academically ineligible for this season. Sullivan posted a team-high 18 home runs and 69 RBIs in 2022.
“The biggest thing is we lack power. We’re going to need to manufacture runs in different ways, which I’m okay with,” said coach Joe Urso. “I like playing small ball. We’re going to need to do some of the bunting and hit and running that it’s going to take to create runs.”
Last season, Lala led Tampa with 17 stolen bases while no other Spartans had more than nine. The team was efficient when stealing and converted 83% of attempts.
“I’ve always tried to make [small ball] a big part of my game; being able to bunt, hit and run, move guys around and just do the little things right,” said Erhard. “I think if we’re able to execute small ball a lot of good things are going to happen for us.”
Other adjustments the Spartans need to make are plugging holes in the lineup and defensively with outfielder Luke Glancy graduating and the departures of catchers Josh Rulli and Giovany Lorenzo and second baseman Nicholas Winkelmeyer.
The Spartans will look toward their transfers to fill these gaps. Sophomores Santiago Garavito and Danny Gutcher will battle for time behind the dish, while sophomore infielder Nico Saladino will face competition from junior infielder Luis Rodriguez once he is fully healthy from an elbow injury.
There won’t be as much rearrangement of roles for Tampa’s pitching. The 2022 squad boasted a team ERA of 2.98, the best in all of Division II.
“Having the best ERA in Division II is hard to repeat but I think we have the potential to have a just as good ERA or very close,” said senior right-handed pitcher Michael Paul. “All the guys attack the strike zone and that is our main goal.”
However, there are still key departures in the rotation. Last season’s ace Haden Erbe along with the No. 3 starter from Opening Day Nick Long graduated.
Paul, who recorded a team-high 96.2 innings pitched in 2022, will be stepping into the No. 1 starting role. For the rest of the rotation, there will be a battle between three junior college transfers in junior Skylar Gonzalez and sophomores Beckett White and Eli Thurmond for weekend starts. Whoever doesn’t make the cut will slide in as a long reliever in the Spartans’ bullpen.
The back end of the bullpen is set for 2023. Tampa returns graduate closer Braydon Nelson whose 1.79 ERA was the second-best mark in all Division II baseball last year among qualified pitchers. His setup man will be senior submariner Dalton Ross who is entering his third season with the Spartans.
Sophomore Alex Canney, who posted a 1.60 ERA over 39.1 innings pitched last year could also make an impact in the late innings. In addition, freshman right-handed pitcher Ashton Pocol has made waves in practice.
“Ashton Pocol has been one of the biggest surprises. Most freshmen come in and it takes them a while and this kid has really caught our eyes quickly,” said Urso. “Our pitching coach and I have a lot of confidence in him and we can see him having an impact this year as a freshman, which is not easy to do.”
However, what may have prepared the Spartans the most for their upcoming quest for a ninth national championship was a January trip to the Dominican Republic. The team not only got the chance to compete against international talent but also volunteered to help surrounding impoverished communities.
“Hopefully this group, when they are dealing with adversity, look back on that Dominican trip, and they don’t take anything for granted and they work through that adversity and it makes a difference in winning a title,” said Urso. “The last time we did a trip like this was to Cuba in 2014 and I really point my finger at that as helping us to win that 2015 national championship.”