B.J. Bailey, a graduate pitcher, delivers a pitch during Game 2 of Tampa’s series against Florida Southern on Saturday, April 4. Photo courtesy of Sydney Maybin.
The University of Tampa Spartans baseball team rallied to win the series against their Sunshine State Conference (SSC) rival, Florida Southern Moccasins.
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By Jeremy Fishman
TAMPA, Fla. — On Friday, April 3, Robert Satin, junior pitcher, took the mound against Florida Southern on Alumni Night, where the Spartans honored the 2006 national championship-winning team. The weekend marked the first time the teams faced each other since the Spartans passed the Moccasins in total national championships in June.
Both teams were held scoreless through the fourth inning. In the fifth, the Moccasins led off with back-to-back singles off Satin, and a sacrifice bunt moved both runners over to scoring position. After that, Brady Doorey, senior second baseman, hit a sacrifice fly to right field before Ryan Jenkins, senior shortstop, hit an RBI single, giving Florida Southern a 2-0 lead.
The Spartans tried to respond in the bottom of the fifth. Juniors Walker Vanecek and Jack Martinez hit consecutive singles, and senior Brayden Woodburn drew a walk to load the bases with one out. Jordan Evans, senior center fielder, hit a sacrifice fly to score Vanecek, but that would be their only run of the game.
Florida Southern scored one more run in the ninth inning to win 3-1, ending the Spartans’ undefeated record in conference play.
UTampa started B.J. Bailey, a graduate pitcher, on the mound for game two of the series. After recording two quick outs, the Moccasins hit two consecutive singles before Bailey induced a ground ball to end the top of the first inning.
The first three Spartan batters reached bases via walks to start the bottom of the first, and Jhoander Irigoyen, senior catcher, hit a sacrifice fly to give them a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the second, Evans had an RBI single, and Irigoyen hit a three-run home run. Evans and Irigoyen both had RBIs in a four-run bottom of the third, and UTampa had a 9-0 lead.
Bailey only allowed two base runners for the rest of his outing, and the Spartans would go on to win 12-1.
“It’s very important to give our team a chance to sweep [the doubleheader] and to play for a rubber match in the third game with John Luke Glanton coming in there, [he] gives us our best chance to win,” said Bailey.
Glanton, a senior right-handed pitcher, started game three. Before the crowd found their seats, he allowed a leadoff home run. In the bottom of the first, the Spartans went down in order but scored two runs in the second courtesy of RBIs from juniors Nik Pereira and Jesse Ponce.
Third-inning errors from Martinez and Ponce scored two more runs for the Moccasins, giving them a lead they would not hold for very long.
In the bottom of the third, Pereira came up with the bases loaded. He hit a blooper into shallow left field that bounced over Florida Southern graduate outfielder Mikey Scott’s head, scoring three runs on a double.
Glanton shut out the Moccasins through the sixth inning and finished his day with six strikeouts, four hits, and one earned run.
“I was just trying to apply the pressure to them and just play our game,” said Glanton.
Luke Fikar, junior two-way player, relieved Glanton. The Spartans scored one run in the sixth, one in the seventh. Before they scored two more runs in the eighth, Florida Southern head coach Rick O’Dette argued a ball call by the home plate umpire that forced his ejection from the game.
In the top of the ninth, the Moccasins pushed across one run but ultimately lost the game and series.
Lucas Johns, junior reliever, said the Spartans came out confident despite the added emotion from playing a rival; they treated it like a regular game.