Tampa Baseball Occupies Top Spot in All Four National Polls
TAMPA, Fla. - The University of Tampa baseball team is the unanimous No. 1 team in the nation as each of the four NCAA Division II national polls have the Spartans listed at the top.
UT opened the season at No. 1 according to Perfect Game, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and D2 Baseball News. Tampa was previously No. 2 in the preseason Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll, and now appears at the top spot in that poll.
Tampa is currently 8-1 on the season, and most recently took two of three games from defending national champion Southern Indiana University. UT has also notched sweeps over Bentley University and Georgia College in 2015.
Through nine games, the Spartans have outscored their opponents 73-33 as junior third baseman Nick Flair leads the team with a .405 batting average to go with one home runs and 14 RBI. Senior shortstop Giovanny Alfonzo is hitting .400 as eight of UT's nine starters are hitting over .300.
Junior ace David Heintz has been spectacular through three outings, going 2-0 with a 1.06 ERA. In 17.0 innings of work, Heintz has 16 strikeouts with just one walk. Relievers Zach Favre (1.93 ERA) and Dylan Barrow (2.70 ERA) have been stellar as number-two starter Chase Sparkman is also 2-0 with a 3.21 ERA.
The Spartans will hit the road for the first time in 2015, facing Georgia Regents University for a three day, three game series beginning Friday in Augusta, Ga. The Jaguars will enter the series with a 4-3 overall record.
Tampa has been nationally ranked for 21 consecutive seasons dating back to 1994. Additionally, the Spartans have been a mainstay in the top-10 under Urso as they have been in the top-10 each of his 15 seasons at the helm. This also marks the sixth time that the Spartans are a preseason No. 1, and the second straight. The Spartans also own a string of 166 consecutive weeks in the national rankings.
Click here for Perfect Game rankings