UTampa baseball celebrates NCAA three-peat, adds to championship 'brotherhood'

The University of Tampa baseball team secured its third straight NCAA Division II title on Saturday, completing a three-peat that places it among the sport's elite.

The Spartans, who defeated West Chester 8-4 on Saturday in the deciding game of the best-of-three championship round, also won their 11th NCAA title overall, extending a mark they set a year ago. Eight trophies were under coach Joe Urso.

That’s dynasty stuff, at any level of college baseball.

“It means the world,” senior Brayden Woodburn said. “I’ve been blessed enough to be here for the past three.”

It was, however, the first title for 22 of his teammates.

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“There is a brotherhood that is built through championships. It doesn’t matter what level. High school, college, pro, it doesn’t matter, and it builds something special,” said Urso, a UT graduate and second baseman on the Spartans’ first title-winner in 1992.

“That was the message this morning. … ‘You know guys, this is about you 22 guys chasing your first one, because once you get that first one, you’re part of that brotherhood forever.’ ”

Luke Fiker was named the championship’s Most Outstanding Player. He’s a productive infielder whose biggest contribution came as a relief pitcher.

Fiker earned the win in Game 1, an overtime nailbiter, with 4⅔ innings of scoreless relief, then returned on two days’ rest to set off the UT celebration at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina.

No. 2-seeded Tampa opened a 6-0 advantage by the fourth inning, and top-seeded West Chester – which put up a dozen runs in Game 2 – just couldn’t close the gap.

UT built a 3-0 lead on an RBI single by James Books in the first inning and Woodburn’s two-RBI double in the third. In the fourth, the Spartans added two RBI by Jhoander Irigoyen and one each by Books and Jordan Evans.

“I thought it was real important for us to come out and score first,” Urso said. “We got the big hit by Books to get up in that first inning. And we extended quickly, which really let everybody to settle in.”

Tampa starter John Luke Glanton, who also pitched in Game 1, was solid until giving up an RBI single to Carter Rust in the fifth. He left the bases loaded with two outs for Fiker.

“John Luke was pounding the zone with all three pitches and had them off-balance all day,” Urso said. “We knew there would come a time in the middle somewhere where he would run out of gas on two days’ rest.”

Fiker, a junior out of Tampa’s Sickles High School and Hillsborough College, came in from second base and got Harry Middlebrooks to fly out to center to end the threat.

“Just an amazing, gutsy performance by Glanton and Mr. Fiker,” Urso said.

Fiker (5-0) gave up three runs and struck out two over 4⅓ innings but had to work out of jams in the seventh and ninth innings.

“To do what he’s done all week for us. ... You never underestimate a kid’s heart. I don’t think his stuff really slowed down. It was sharp, sinking, and to finish that was real impressive.”

In the bottom of the ninth, Landen Rozich, who went 4-for-4, tripled off the right-center field wall after Evans tripped on the warning track. Rozich scored on a single by Rust before Fiker induced a pop foul to third and a pair of flyouts to secure the title.

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“I was pretty exhausted, but it was the last game of the season, and I had to give it my all,” Fiker said.

Tampa’s bats were led by Irigoyen, who went 3-for-6 with a double and two RBI, and Woodburn, who went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI.

Tampa (51-9) won Game 1 on Thursday, 7-4, with an RBI single from Nik Pereria and RBI double from Jesse Ponce in the top of the 10th. On Friday, the Golden Rams (48-12) rolled to a 12-4 win in Game 2 to set up Saturday’s final.

UT’s Fiker, Irigoyen, Woodburn, Books and Ponce were named to the all-tournament team.

Tampa earned an automatic bid to the NCAAs after winning its sixth straight Sunshine State Conference title. The Spartans hosted the South Regional and went 3-0, then took two straight against host West Florida in the South Super Regional.

In Cary, Tampa beat Bentley, Point Loma and Catawba to reach the championship round.