February 13, 2015

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PENSACOLA, Fla. – Heading into the bottom of the ninth, the University of West Florida baseball team faced a three-run deficit against the No. 1-ranked University of Tampa Spartans. After three consecutive singles by Kyle Hamner, Robert Lopez and Alex Greene, UWF had a prime opportunity to make a comeback in the late stages of Saturday's contest. Nic Strasser walked with the bases loaded to bring home John Price and cut UT's lead to 5-3, before Ladeavon Matthews reached on a fielder's choice to bring home Greene and make it a 5-4 ballgame. UT reliever Christopher Williams was eventually able to shut the door on West Florida's comeback hopes, as Williams got the game's final out and secured a 5-4 win for the Spartans marking their 18^th consecutive victory carrying over from last season.
 
Tampa (8-0) was able to score its first few runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Tampa right fielder Danny Lee it an RBI single in the fourth, before a throwing error in the fifth allowed the Spartans to score their second and third runs of the game. Tampa would tack on a run in the seventh before adding a key insurance run in the ninth.
 
West Florida (2-4) had eight different hitters record a base hit against the top-ranked Spartans. Jean Figueroa posted a 2-for-3 showing highlighted by an RBI single in the fourth, while Hamner recorded his second straight two-hit game with a 2-for-4 day at the plate. Greene extended his hitting streak to six games after going 2-for-5 from the leadoff spot.
 
JT Granat was credited with the loss despite posting a solid performance over 4.2 innings and allowing only one earned run. The Pensacola native surrendered six hits while striking out three. Anthony Mazzurco made his second appearance of the 2016 season, contributing 3.2 innings and allowed two earned runs on five hits with four strikeouts.
 
UWF and Tampa conclude their three-game non-conference series tomorrow at Jim Spooner Field with first pitch slated for 12:00 p.m. Probable pitchers include Walker O'Connor for West Florida and Brad Henke for Tampa.
 
To stay updated with the UWF baseball team, follow the team on Twitter @UWF_Baseball. For information on all UWF Athletics, visit GoArgos.com.