No. 1 Spartans Advance to National Tournament

The UT baseball team earned its second consecutive south region championship May 18, advancing to the NCAA Division II National Championship Finals. UT will play the Midwest regional champion on Saturday, May 24, at 1 p.m. at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, NC.

This represents the 16th NCAA Division II Baseball National Tournament for the Spartans and the eighth under head coach Joe Urso. UT will look for its seventh baseball national championship and fourth since 2006. The Spartans will also bid for its third back-to-back championship season as they defend their 2013 title.

Sophomore Trey Oest pitched a masterful complete-game shutout to help the No. 1 University of Tampa baseball team oust No. 24 Florida Southern College by a 3-0 score in the regional championship. The Spartans soar to 51-2 on the season after emerging undefeated in the south region tournament while the Moccasins conclude their 2014 campaign at 35-19.

Oest (8-0) was brilliant in his nine innings, needing just 78 pitches to go the distance. The ace limited FSC to a single hit while striking out five and walking none for the win.

First baseman Sean O’Brien tallied three hits, including two doubles, while scoring a run for the UT team. Third baseman Tyler Ding hit 2-for-3 with a run and a RBI while leftfielder Michael Danner picked up a base-hit and a RBI.

Five players were named to the all-tournament team as Giovanny Alfonzo, Stephen Dezzi and Kevin McNorton were recognized for their tournament performances along with Oest and Ding. Senior Ding was named Most Outstanding Player on the team after batting .625 across four games in the tournament.

Tune in to www.tampaspartans.com for updates regarding the national tournament.