Yet again, our "Marquee Match-Up of the Week" takes us to the Sunshine State Conference where, in a rare occurrence most years, #9 Tampa (27-11, 9-6 SSC) is looking up in the standings at their opponent, #17 Florida Tech (33-7, 13-6 SSC). Not only is this a series which will heavily influence the South regional rankings, but it is a series that both teams need to sweep to have a chance to keep up with Nova Southeastern.
I feel like I have given Tampa a hard time the last few weeks as they have been in their little funk. After all, they are 3-4 in their last seven and 6-5 in their last 11. However, make no mistake, this is still a team that should be favored in nearly every game throughout the season anyway, regional tournament included.
The Spartans began the year 13-1, upset the MLB's Philadelphia Phillies in an exhibition game, won their next game to move to 14-1, and from there...well...it has been somewhat of an uphill battle for Tampa.
They do have series wins over Barry, Florida Southern, Palm Beach Atlantic and Lynn, with a sweep over Eckerd in there, as well. However, also included in that stretch is a series sweep at the hands of Nova Southeastern, the first time Tampa has been swept in a three games or more series since 2011.
The Spartans are relying heavily on the offense this season. Tampa is only 12-11 this year when scoring less than double digits in the runs column, which is a little concerning. They are 15-0 when scoring at least 10 runs, and of all teams that should know, Tampa knows that pitching is what gets you deep in to the postseason.
Until they potentially find that pitching, they are leaning on senior shortstop Giovanny Alfonzo (.353, 40 R, 11 2B, 6 HR, 24 RBI), junior third baseman Nick Flair (.351, 35 R, 13 2B, 7 HR, 46 RBI) and junior second baseman Cody deNoyelles (.347, 29 R, 9 2B, 6 HR, 32 RBI). As a team, Tampa is batting an impressive .333, with every starter of at least 28 games batting above that number on the year with the exception of one, and that is All-American Stephen Dezzi, who is hitting .323 and leads the team with 10 home runs, 28 walks and a .492 OBP.
As a team, Tampa ranks in the top 30 of a plethora of offensive categories, including hits (448), home runs (46), runs (318), scoring (8.4 runs/game), average (.333), slugging percentage (.510), triples (14) and walks (158). They also lead all of Division II in sacrifice flies (33).
Unfortunately for the Spartans, standing at the plate is only half the battle. Despite being in the best conference in the country for Division II baseball, Tampa usually has a couple draft picks on their pitching staff blowing people away and putting up decent numbers. This year, however, it is a different story. Tampa has a team ERA of 4.37, and all three of their usual starters have an ERA on the season north of 3.50. To compare, last year's team, which found themselves deep in to the Division II Baseball Finals in Cary, batted .329 as a team but had a pitching staff with a team ERA right near 3.00 on the season due to all three of their main starters pulling an ERA under 2.50.
Junior David Heintz leads the staff, numbers-wise, with a 4-2 record, 3.58 ERA and a .246 batting average against in nine starts with 34 strikeouts in 50.1 innings. Teaming up with him in the rotation is senior Chase Sparkman (7-2, 4.12 ERA, 43/6 K/BB in 59 IP) and junior Brad Hencke (4-0, 4.56 ERA, 37 K in 47.1 IP).
Comparatively, Florida Tech seems to be a juggernaut on both the offensive side of the game and on the pitching mound. The Panthers were one of the last Division II squads to lose a game, starting the season 17-0, a stretch that included a victory over USC Aiken, a victory over Florida Southern, a victory over Eckerd, and two wins over Lynn before the Fighting Knights handed FIT their first loss of the season.
Florida Tech encountered their first real trouble of the season in their next conference series against Saint Leo, when they ran in to an offensive buzzsaw and dropped two of three. However, they rebounded to sweep Rollins, take two of three from Florida Southern, sweep Barry, pick up a good non-conference victory over Flagler, and then pick up a win over Nova Southeastern, although they lost the series.
This series is actually the final conference set of the year for the Panthers, and sitting one game behind Nova Southeastern (12-3 to 13-6) by virtue of three more losses and one more win than the Sharks, FIT is going to pretty much need a sweep, considering NSU still has nine conference games scheduled, all against the bottom three teams in the league. Even with a sweep, the Panthers will need help.
However, with that said, this series will go a long way in providing FIT with the kind of upper echelon competition that they will be facing in the regional tournament in a few weeks, albeit against what will most likely be many of the same teams they saw in conference play.
The Panthers entered the week of play sitting near the top of the Division II rankings in a bevy of categories on both offense and defense. FIT ranked in the top 15 in average (4th .356), hits (4th, 497), on-base percentage (5th, .436) runs (10th, 347), walks (10th, 175), scoring (11th, 8.9 runs/game), and slugging (11th, .524). When it came to pitching, the numbers are even better. The Panthers led the country in walks per nine innings (1.56) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.61), and were in the top 15 of WHIP (3rd, 1.10) and ERA (13th, 3.06).
Since those numbers came out, FIT pretty much only improved on them with a mid-week 9-6 win over Barry. They are now hitting .358 as a team, led by senior infielder Tyler Doughty (.447, 34 R, 25 RBI, .507 OBP, 13 SB) and Reid Neal (.447, 48 R, 76 H, 11 2B, 33 RBI, .510 OBP). Both of them rank in the top 15 in the country for batting average, while Neal is in the top five in total hits. They are also aided by junior catcher Austin Allen, who leads the country in doubles with 23, and is hitting .439 with 46 runs and leads the team in home runs (10), RBI (49), and slugging (.790).
All told, the Panthers have seven full-time starters batting at least .309, six hitting over .330 and five hitting at least .350.
The mound presence teams up well with the offensive swagger, as the team is led by a pair of aces in seniors Scott Ward (8-1, 2.07 ERA, 46/5 K/BB in 69.2 IP) and Ashton Fronsoe (8-1, 2.44 ERA, 47/10 K/BB in 62.2 IP). Their big strikeout pitcher is third in line with freshman Ty Cohen, who carries a 6-1 record with a 3.95 ERA and leads the team with 59 strikeouts in 48.2 innings.
All the numbers you can throw out there seem to favor Florida Tech in this series...but nothing can compare to the ability of a team that has experience and has been on the big stage almost constantly over the last six years, and that is what Tampa has in spades.
Below are some links to follow along with the action this weekend, as well as projected pitching match-ups:
#9 Tampa (27-11, 9-6 SSC) @ #17 Florida Tech (33-7, 13-6 SSC)
Game One: Friday, April 17th, 6 PM ET (Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats)
David Heintz (4-2, 3.58) or Chase Sparkman (7-2, 4.12) vs Ashton Fronsoe (8-1, 2.44)
Game Two: Saturday, April 18th, 12 PM ET (Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats)
Chase Sparkman (7-2, 4.12) or Michael Calkins (2-4, 3.82) vs Scott Ward (8-1, 2.07)
Game Three: Saturday, April 18th, 2:30 PM ET (Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats)
Brad Hencke (4-0, 4.56) vs Grant Willcoxon (4-3, 4.99)
Note: Starting pitchers are projected based on past series' and subject to change.
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