No. 1 Spartans host Argonauts for NCAA South Super Regional
May 21, 2025

No. 1 Spartans host Argonauts for NCAA South Super Regional

NCAA SUPER REGIONAL PREVIEW

TAMPA, FL. The #1 University of Tampa baseball team hosts #3 West Florida for the NCAA South Super Regional.

Series Record:

The Spartans are 23-5 against the Argonauts all-time, winners of 4 straight, and 8-2 in their last 10.

Format:

Best of Three Series

Schedule:

Thursday, May 22nd – 1:00 P.M.

Friday, May 23rd – 1:00 P.M.

Saturday, May 24 – 1:00 P.M.

Location:

UTampa Baseball Field | Tampa, FL.

Tampa (47-8)

  • The No. 1 Spartans survived this past weekend in the NCAA South Regional despite being down to their final three outs from getting knocked out of their historic 2025 campaign. The Spartans opened up their NCAA tournament run behind Jake Stipp's six innings of one-run baseball on the mound and J.D. Urso, Jhoander Irigoyen, and Mike Valdez all collecting multi-hit games en route to a 10-2 win over Albany State. After dropping to Mississippi College, the Spartans put together a slugfest against Albany State, putting up 25 runs, collecting 20 hits, and stealing eight bags. Brayden Woodburn led the way with a 4-4 day at the plate, including a multi-home run game and bringing in seven runs. Nico Saladino also reached base safely three times and brought in six runners to advance Tampa to the regional final. The Spartans needed to beat Mississippi College twice to clinch a spot in the South Super Regionals, and they did just that. In game one, Skylar Gonzalez threw a complete game, striking out three batters while only giving up two earned runs en route to a 12-2 victory. In the winner-take-all matchup, Tampa was down 8-1 in the 5th inning before they started their comeback. In the bottom of the fifth, the Spartans scored three runs, including a two-run bomb off Woodburn's scorching hot bat. Then, Kevin Karstetter and Saladino had RBI-singles in the bottom of the eighth to cut Tampa's deficit to two, 8-6. Down to their final three outs, Woodburn led off the inning with his fourth home run on the weekend. Cole Russo followed with an RBI single later in the inning to extend the game into extras. Urso ended the game in the bottom of the tenth with a walk-off double to send the Spartans into the South Super Regionals.
  • This is the Spartans' 20th NCAA South Regional Championship and 21st Super Regional Appearance.

West Florida (36-19)

  • The Argonauts finished 3rd in the Gulf South Conference with a 22-11 record in conference play over the regular season. The Argonauts won two straight in the GSC tournament, beating #6 Trevecca Nazarene and #2 Valdosta State before dropping to #5 West Alabama and getting knocked out by #8 Montevallo. Despite not winning the GSC tournament, the Argonauts have started their NCAA tournament run, going 3-0 in regional play, beating the South Regional six seed Delta State and then winning back-to-back games against two seed Florida Southern to capture an NCAA South Super Regional bid. West Florida is 5-3 against SSC opponents and looks to continue their undefeated NCAA tournament run as they travel to Tampa to take on the No. 1 team in the country and look to advance to their 2nd college world series appearance in program history.

Live stats for all games this week can be found at Tampastats.com.  

Live broadcasts for all games this week can be found at TampaSpartans.tv.