Photo courtesy of Hannah Walls
The University of Tampa baseball team prepares to take on St. Leo during their three-game series this weekend to open conference play.
–
By Lilly Bouchard
TAMPA, Fla. — On Thursday, UTampa baseball practiced at Bailey Field, while they physically and mentally get ready for Sunshine State Conference play.
UTampa baseball is hungrier than ever to get an 11th ring this season, as that is shown on and off the field. Preparation is key as the Spartans are the talk of the top of the ranking in the conference. They plan to use that energy for success, which is what they have already shown.
“This year coming in with a target on your chest and playing the same brand of baseball as we always do and relying on each other will lead to success,” said senior second baseman Brayden Woodburn.
Last year, the Spartans faced the Lions three different times in conference play. The first two games they won, the first game 8-4 and the second 7-0. The last game they lost 4-2. With 23 new players on the Spartans’ roster, the Lions don’t know what is coming for them.
Catcher and top hitter Jhoander Irigoyen said, “So far we have shown we are capable of doing so many great things.”
“St. Leo has a different staff, but we are still going to play ball and do the best we can to win the series,” said Irigoyen.
Coach Urso touches on that, “It starts with the leadership and returning guys, like Woodburn, Irigoyen, King, those are the guys that have to bring the new guys in about our culture and represent us with pride, which they are doing a great job.”
That leadership will be on and off the field as always, but more than usual in the dugout this year, as junior Maddox King is out for the rest of the season, as he broke his hand and had surgery this past Tuesday.
“I am going to try to be a leader in the dugout,” he said. “The expectation is to be on top of the mountain every year, and we don’t plan on losing; that’s the goal.”
Urso is happy with the performance the team has brought to pre-conference games, as their statistics show just that.
“Overall outstanding. The starting pitching, defense, hitting for power, stolen bases, and all aspects of the game, I am very happy with. Now we have to find that consistency while we go into conference play, where it will only be harder competition,” he said. “It is conference play, so everything is going to be more magnified, and the little mistakes will make a ball game, and it will happen, but let’s limit the mental mistakes which we talked a lot about today.”
As a team, they do have strategies to clear their minds before big moments, such as conference game openers like playing hacky sack to get game-ready, said Robert Satin.
“We are three weekends in, so I got down my traditions of what I do,” he said. “This year I don’t have a Friday class, so I lie in bed and get food at 1 p.m., head to the field and stay locked in during the week, take care of my body after, and that’s pretty much it.”
Satin started off the weekend at the mound with a successful performance as the Spartans swept the Lions in the three-game series.
Urso is more than happy with how the Spartans have looked all pre-season.
“Overall outstanding. The starting pitching, defense, hitting for power, stolen bases, and all aspects of the game, I am very happy with. Now we have to find that consistency while we go into conference play, where it will only be harder competition,” Urso says.
Jake Books, a transfer from Coastal Carolina, has adjusted well to the new program with the 22 other players, as the trust between the players and the coaches means the most to him and reflects on how well their performances are.
“Between the coaching staff, there are a lot of similarities in being prepared, like coming to practice of how the details matter, and both coaching staff have those same intentions,” he said.
“We know the targets on our back, we embrace it,” he said. “Stay away from the elephant in the room: We know we are the best, and we play like it.”
That is exactly what the Spartans are proving and will continue to prove through conference play.