ST. AUGUSTINE – Drew Ehrhard led off the ninth inning with a home run to lead No. 1 (
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Division II Top 30) University of Tampa to a 7-6 win over Flagler College in a non-conference baseball game Tuesday night at Drysdale Field.
Tampa improved to 23-3 while Flagler fell to 14-12.
The Saints trailed 6-1 going into the bottom of the fifth inning. Flagler had the first two batters reach without putting the ball in play (a walk and a hit by pitch).
Trey Newland hit a ball off the Tampa pitcher to load the bases.
Mason Gray tapped the ball back to the mound and Spartan reliever Dalton Ross got the force out at the plate, but the bases were still loaded.
Myles Colangelo followed and belted a grand slam to pull the Saints to within a run.
In the sixth,
Jaiden Warde led off and reached first after being hit by a pitch. He took second on an infield single. After a sacrifice bunt moved the runners up a base, Warde scored on a wild pitch to tie the game.
But Braden Forsyth (1-0) kept the Saints off the board for 2 2/3 innings as he earned the win. He scattered two hits and struck out three batters. Braydon Nelson recorded his fourth save of the year as he worked the ninth inning.
E.J. Cumbo collected three singles and scored two runs for Tampa. J.D. Urso hit a pair of doubles, scored a run and had two runs batted in. The Spartans' first five batters had nine of the team's 11 hits.
Dylan Faulkner (1-2) took the loss in relief for Flagler. He allowed one run on two hits in the ninth.
Nick Phifer,
Robert Archbold,
Anthony Nofi and
Steven Reiss all saw time on the hill.
Colangelo finished the night 2-for-4 with the grand slam. Newland had a base hit, drew two walks and stole a pair of bases.
Flagler steps back into Peach Belt Conference play with a three-game series this weekend against USC Aiken. The first game is Friday at 6 p.m.
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