Tampa Punches Ticket To Cary With South Region Title

What a difference a game makes!  After taking a tough loss in their first shot at winning the regional title, Tampa rebounded with a resounding 20-3 win over Southern Arkansas to win the 2010 NCAA Division II South Region Championship.  With the win, Tampa advances to the NCAA DII Championship, which will be hosted May 22-29 in Cary, N.C.A daily recap of all games appears below. 

Southern Arkansas was selected as the No. 1 seed in the tournament.  The host Spartans are the No. 2 seed.  Valdosta State was awarded the No. 3 seed, while Florida Southern is No. 4, and Rollins is No. 5.  West Florida garnered the No. 6 slot, while Florida Tech will carry the No. 7 seed into the regional, and SIAC automatic qualifier Albany State is the No. 8 seed.

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REGIONAL DAY ONE (MAY 13):  Tampa posted a convincing 7-1 win over Florida Tech in opening-day action on Thursday at the DII Baseball South Regional.  With the win, Tampa will face Valdosta State at 4:30 p.m. Friday.  The Blazers downed West Florida 6-3 in the first game of the tournament.  Florida Tech will play West Florida at 10 a.m. Friday.

Josh Bowman had a tremendous outing on the mound for the Spartans, giving up only two hits and three walks in eight shutout innings.  He struck out 10.  Catcher Mike Blanke led UT at the plate, going 2-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored. J.D. Davidson, who went 1-for-3, accounted for Florida Tech's lone RBI.

In the final game of the day, Rollins and Florida Southern battled in a seesaw affair, with the Moccasins pulling out a 7-6 win on a two-RBI single by Andrew Grutka in the bottom of the ninth inning.  Florida Southern will face top-seeded Southern Arkansas on Friday at 7:45 p.m. in the winner's bracket, while the Tars will take on Albany State at 1:15 p.m.  Southern Arkansas downed Albany State 6-1 in day one action.

The Tars took an early 2-1 lead in the first inning, and that tally held up until FSC took a 4-1 lead with a three-run sixth inning.  Rollins answered right back with three runs of its own in the top of the seventh to take a 5-4 advantage.  They tacked on an insurance run in the top of the 9th to go ahead 6-4.  That's when the Moccasins rallied in the bottom half of the ninth, scoring three runs, including two on Grutka's game-winning single to take the victory.

Grutka ended the night 1-for-4 with three RBI.  Tony Mitchell was 1-for-4 with two RBI.  Daniel Tillman took the mound in the final inning and claimed the win.  Justin Yount led Rollins with a 4-for-5 effort and two RBI. 

REGIONAL DAY TWO (MAY 14):  With a plethora of runs being tacked on the scoreboard in the first three games, Friday's second day of South Region baseball action proved to be a long one.  Three SSC teams picked up wins, with Rollins and Florida Tech staving off elimination with victories.  Tampa remained undefeated, while Florida Southern fell to No. 1 seed Southern Arkansas in a game that didn't begin until 10:05 p.m. and ended just before 1 a.m. Saturday.

Florida Tech kicked off Friday's scoring spree with a 13-4 win over West Florida.  The Panthers scored four runs in the top of the first inning and never looked back.  John Fouchet led the parade by going 3-for-5 with three RBI.  Ryan McChesney was 3-for-4 with two RBI, and Josh Hinkle was 3-for-6 with two RBI.  Randall Thompson picked up the win, surrendering two earned runs on four hits and four walks over seven innings.  He struck out three.

Rollins held what seemed to be a comfortable five-run lead after six innings, but had to pull out some late magic to hold off Albany State 9-8.  The Tars built an 8-3 lead with a four-run sixth, but gave up five to the Golden Rams in the top of the seventh to knot the score at 8-8.  Tony Brunetti drove in the winning run with an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth.  Brunetti concluded the game 3-for-5 with three RBI.  Kevin Mager went 2-for-5 with two RBI.  With five different pitchers taking the mound for the Tars, Robbie Pagano earned the win with two scoreless innings.  Pagano gave up one hit and no walks with two strikeouts.

Tampa rocketed to a 7-0 lead in the top of the first inning and never slowed down in a 17-7 win over Valdosta State.  Mike Schwartz led the high powered UT offense by going 3-for-4 with three RBI.  Dylan Brown was 3-for-6 with three RBI of his own.  Six different pitchers made appearances for the Spartans, and A.J. Pinera recorded the win.  In 1.1 innings of work, Pinera allowed no hits and one walk.  He fanned two.

Florida Southern managed to hold top-seeded Southern Arkansas scoreless through three innings, but from there the Muleriders took control en route to a 7-0 win.  Andrew Grutka was the only Moc to fare well against Southern Arkansas All-American pitcher Hayden Simpson, going 3-for-3 at the plate.

In Saturday's action, Rollins, Florida Tech, and Florida Southern will all be looking to avoid elimination.  The Tars will tangle with Valdosta State at noon.  A pair of SSC foes will square off at 3:30 p.m. when Florida Southern and Florida Tech meet.  The two remaining undefeated teams, Tampa and Southern Arkansas, will face off at 7 p.m.

REGIONAL DAY THREE (MAY 15):  The offensive onslaught that began on Friday carried over to Saturday at the DII Baseball South Regional.  Tampa, Florida Southern, and Rollins came out on the good end of the hitting spree, while Florida Tech was eliminated with a loss to the Moccasins.  With its third win in as many days, Tampa earned a day off on Sunday and waits to see who will be its opponent in Monday's regional title game.

In the first game of the day, Rollins eliminated Valdosta State with an 8-4 win.  The Tars scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the third, but VSU answered right back to tie things at 1-1 in the top of the fourth.  Rollins' three-run bottom of the sixth put the Tars up 4-1, but the Blazers again responded in the top half of the next inning to pull within 4-3.  A four-run seventh proved to be the difference for Rollins.  Scott Chase had a huge day for the Tars, going 4-for-4 with a home run and three RBI.  Joey Manning went 2-for-4 with two RBI.  Stephen Hiscock earned the complete-game win.  He surrendered four earned runs on 11 hits and three walks with four strikeouts.

Game two saw Florida Southern eliminate Florida Tech with a 12-4 victory.  FSC got on the board with a run in the third, then added four in the fourth and never looked back.  Braxton Chisholm led the hot FSC offense with a 2-for-5 performance that included a grand slam.  In total, he drove in five runs.  Tyler Benzel chipped in a three-run homer for the Mocs.  Max Russell worked the complete-game shutout.  He permitted two earned runs on 10 hits and no walks with eight strikeouts.  Tony Moos led Tech with a 2-for-4 effort and one RBI.

In the final game of the day, the top two seeds of the tournament squared off with No. 2 Tampa making a pointed statement with a resounding 20-5 thumping of top-seeded Southern Arkansas.  The hot-hitting Spartans plated eight runs in the first two innings, and the bats never cooled down from there.  UT belted five home runs in the game, led by Jared Simon who was 3-for-3 with two homers.  Simon drove in five runs on the evening.  Brad Roberts was 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI.  Dylan Brown and Larry Walicki accounted for the other two round-trippers of the contest.  John Weidenbauer picked up the win for Tampa.  Working six innings, he allowed two earned runs on five hits and five walks.  He struck out three.

SSC foes Rollins and Florida Southern will meet for the fifth time in 10 days on Sunday at noon, with the loser being eliminated from competition.  The winner will face Southern Arkansas at 3:30 p.m. with a trip to Monday's title game versus Tampa on the line.

REGIONAL DAY FOUR (MAY 16):  Rollins was on both the winning end and losing end of a pair of games in the DII Baseball South Regional on Sunday.  The Tars began their day with an impressive 6-0 win over Florida Southern, but then fell to top-seeded Southern Arkansas 7-1 in a weather-delayed nightcap.  With both FSC and Rollins eliminated, Southern Arkansas advances to face Tampa in Monday's regional title game at 11 a.m.

Perhaps the biggest story of the Rollins/FSC game was the performance of senior pitcher Chad Giannuzzi.  Having earned four letters for the Tars, Giannuzzi had never made a start in his career.  That all changed Sunday, when he took the mound and tossed a gem to keep his team alive in the postseason.  Giannuzzi allowed no runs on five hits and one walk.  He struck out four in seven innings of work.  Scott Chase and Taylor Ferguson led Rollins at the plate.  Chase was 2-for-4 with two RBI, while Ferguson was 1-for-4 with two RBI.  Both players belted a homer run in the game.  Trae Gore and Wade Kirkland led Florida Southern with a 2-for-4 performance.

The second game of the day started two hours after the originally-scheduled time due to an inclement weather delay.  Once things finally got under way, Southern Arkansas wasted little time getting on the scoreboard.  The Muleriders plated two runs in the top of the first and would never relinquish the lead the rest of the way.  Chase and Ferguson managed the Tars' only two hits of the contest. Ben Hewett was credited with Rollins' lone RBI when he drew a bases-loaded walk.

REGIONAL DAY FIVE (MAY 17):  With two chances to win the NCAA Division II South Region Baseball Championship, second-seeded Tampa made good on the second opportunity, taking down top-seeded Southern Arkansas to win the 14th regional title in program history. The Spartans stumbled in the first game, falling to the Muleriders 10-7, but rebounded in grand fashion in the second contest, posting a 20-3 victory.  The win sends the Spartans to Cary, N.C., May 22-29 for a shot at the NCAA DII Baseball Championship.

In the first game of the doubleheader, Southern Arkansas plated four runs before Tampa put a run on the board in the top of the third.  The Muleriders extended their lead to 7-1, but UT's Brad Roberts belted a three-run homer in the top of the sixth to cut the deficit to 7-5.  SAU would score one more run in the sixth and two more in the seventh to push its lead to 10-5.  The Spartans rallied with two runs in the ninth but ultimately fell short in a 10-7 loss.  Mike Blanke went 2-for-3 in the game with two RBI.

Game two was tied at 2-2 until the Spartans blew the game open in the bottom of the fifth on a grand slam by Blanke, which put UT ahead 7-2.  The big hits just kept coming from there, as the Spartans amassed eight runs in the sixth and five in the eighth en route to a 20-3 victory.  Pinch hitting in the eighth, Larry Walicki joined Blanke in the grand slam club, emptying the bases with a shot to right center.  Mike Schwartz also had a big game, going 3-for-4 with two RBI.  Correy Figueroa went 3-for-6 with two RBI.  A.J. Pinera had a stellar outing on the mound, earning the win with one earned run on five hits and one walk.  He struck out five in six innings.  Evan Stobbs picked up the save, permitting one earned run on one hit and one walk over three innings.  He fanned two.

2010 NCAA DII BASEBALL SOUTH REGION CHAMPIONSHIP (Final Revision May 11)

THURSDAY, MAY 13
Game 1:  No. 3 Valdosta State 6, No. 6 West Florida 3
Game 2:  No. 2 Tampa 7, No. 7 Florida Tech 1
Game 3:  No. 1 Southern Arkansas 6, No. 8 Albany State 1
Game 4:  No. 4 Florida Southern 7, No. 5 Rollins 6

FRIDAY, MAY 14
Game 5:  Florida Tech 13, West Florida 4
Game 6:  Rollins 9, Albany State 8
Game 7:  Tampa 17, Valdosta State 7
Game 8:  Southern Arkansas 7, Florida Southern 0

SATURDAY, MAY 15
Game 9:  Rollins 8, Valdosta State 4
Game 10:  Florida Southern 12, Florida Tech 4
Game 11:  Tampa 20, Southern Arkansas 5

SUNDAY, MAY 16
Game 12:  Rollins 6, Florida Southern 0
Game 13:  Southern Arkansas 7, Rollins 1

MONDAY, MAY 17
Game 14:  Southern Arkansas 10, Tampa 7
Game 15:  Tampa 20, Southern Arkansas 3