DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The fourth-ranked Tampa Spartans scored the final 11 runs of the game on Friday night as they downed the Embry-Riddle baseball team, 15-6 to open up the weekend series at Sliwa Stadium. The Eagles (10-20, 1-12 SSC) took a 6-4 lead in the fifth before a four-run sixth for the Spartans (26-5, 15-1 SSC) gave them the lead for good and a five-run eighth put the game away.
Tampa put together a two-out rally in the first against
Aidan Brady to take a 1-0 lead, but Brady kept it just a one-run game until the third as another two-out rally from the visitors pushed the lead to 3-0.
ERAU was able to get to UT starter David Lebron in the bottom of the third inning, starting with a
Cole Habig single and a
Kyle Guttveg double to get ERAU on the board.
Jake Malone came through with a single to left center to plate Guttveg and cut the deficit to 3-2 before Lebron was able to get out of the inning.
Cody Bogart tied the game with his first home run of the season in the last of the fourth, a no-doubter down the left field line, but UT quickly answered in the fifth on an RBI groundout from Darren Miller to allow Drew Ehrhard to score an unearned run for a 4-3 advantage.
Guttveg started the Eagle fifth with a walk, and after Malone walked, Mark Moclair entered for Lebron, immediately giving up a single to
Kyle Marsh to score Guttveg and tie the game. Moclair spiked a ball during
Luis Olivier's at-bat, allowing Malone to score all the way from second, giving ERAU the lead and Olivier followed with a double that stayed just inside the first base line, pushing ERAU's cushion to 6-4 before Moclair struck out back-to-back Eagles and got a ground out to end the inning.
The final lead change came in the top of the sixth as UT loaded the bases against Brady with two outs, getting a bases-loaded walk to push across a run before Harrison Bragg singled to right center over a leaping Marsh to score two and give Tampa the lead. An infield single brought in another Spartan run before
Dominic Jeancola came in and got the final out of the inning.
ERAU could get nothing going against Moclair the rest of the night, and UT put the game away with a five-run eighth, including a grand slam before adding on two more runs in the ninth for the 15-6 final.
Guttveg, Olivier and Habig each finished with two hits for the Blue and Gold, while a quartet of pitchers saw action for the Eagles.
A doubleheader is slated for tomorrow, April 7 at 1 p.m. at Sliwa Stadium.
