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Tampa Spartans baseball

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American college baseball team
Tampa Spartans
Founded1977
Overall record2040-922-9 .688
UniversityUniversity of Tampa
Head coachJoe Urso (24th season)
ConferenceSunshine State
LocationTampa, Florida
Home stadiumUniversity of Tampa Baseball Field
(Capacity: 750 )
ColorsBlack, red, and gold
     
NCAA Tournament champions
1992, 1993, 1998, 2006, 2007, 2013, 2015, 2019, 2024
College World Series runner-up
1987, 2003
College World Series appearances
1986, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2021, 2024
NCAA Tournament appearances
1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
Regular season conference champions
1987, 1989, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024

The Tampa Spartans Baseball program represents the University of Tampa in the NCAA's Division II Level in the Sunshine State Conference. The Spartans are one of the most successful baseball programs in the history of Division II with nine national titles. Their most recent came in 2024. Tampa is tied with Florida Southern for the most national titles among DII baseball programs. The Spartans are coached by Joe Urso, considered to be the greatest Division II baseball head coach ever and one of the best college baseball coaches of all-time.

Tampa has reached the College World Series 22 times, reaching the finals 11 times. The Spartans have won 23 Sunshine State Conference titles, including 18 since 2000, and have produced 101 Major League Baseball draft picks. Nine of those players have gone on to play in the big leagues, including Tino Martinez, Ozzie Timmons and Lou Pinella. The program has highly-publicized wins against Philadelphia Phillies in an exhibition game back in 2015 and the Netherlands national baseball team ahead of the 2006 World Baseball Classic.

The Spartans have spent 399 weeks ranked in the top 25, including 298 consecutive weeks from 2005-present. Of those 399 weeks, 119 have been spent as the No. 1 team in all of Division II and 353 weeks have been spent inside the top 10.

Yearly Records

Year Conference Coach Overall Record Postseason
1961 Sam Bailey 9-11-1
1962 Sam Bailey 13-10
1963 Sam Bailey 13-9
1964 Sam Bailey 8-14
1965 Sam Bailey 12-9
1966 Larry Gable 16-8
1967 Larry Gable 8-15
1968 Larry Gable 10-15
1969 Bob Dews 13-9
1970 Dan Sikes 8-11
1971 Dan Sikes 7-14
1972 Dan Sikes 15-9-1
1973 Joe Wiendl 8-22
1974 Frank Permuy 14-20
1975 Frank Permuy 10-18-1
1976 Frank Permuy 21-14-1
1977 Ind. Frank Permuy 18-24-1
1978 Ind. Pete Mulry 29-13
1979 Ind. Pete Mulry 25-25
1980 Ind. Pete Mulry 27-18
1981 Ind. Pete Mulry 27-19
1982 SSC Brian Sabean 27-19
1983 SSC Brian Sabean 24-18-1
1984 SSC Brian Sabean 37-18 NCAA Regional
1985 SSC Ken Dominguez 32-17
1986 SSC Ken Dominguez 36-23 College World Series
1987 SSC Ken Dominguez 42-11-1 National Runners-Up
1988 SSC Ken Dominguez 31-18 NCAA regional
1989 SSC Lelo Prado 37-18-1 NCAA regional
1990 SSC Lelo Prado 45-14 College World Series
1991 SSC Lelo Prado 34-17 NCAA Regional
1992 SSC Lelo Prado 42-19 National Champions
1993 SSC Lelo Prado 43-21 National Champions
1994 SSC Lelo Prado 36-18 NCAA Regional
1995 SSC Lelo Prado 41-17 NCAA Regional
1996 SSC Terry Rupp 45-16 College World Series
1997 SSC Terry Rupp 46-16 College World Series
1998 SSC Terry Rupp 46-14 National Champions
1999 SSC Terry Rupp 33-22
2000 SSC Terry Rupp 45-12 NCAA Regional
2001 SSC Joe Urso 49-10 College World Series
2002 SSC Joe Urso 36-19 NCAA Regional
2003 SSC Joe Urso 45-18 National Runners-Up
2004 SSC Joe Urso 41-16 NCAA Regional
2005 SSC Joe Urso 40-18 NCAA Regional
2006 SSC Joe Urso 54-6 National Champions
2007 SSC Joe Urso 53-10 National Champions
2008 SSC Joe Urso 42-11-1 College World series
2009 SSC Joe Urso 40-17 NCAA Regional
2010 SSC Joe Urso 46-11 College World Series
2011 SSC Joe Urso 36-17 NCAA Regional
2012 SSC Joe Urso 38-10 NCAA Regional
2013 SSC Joe Urso 47-12 National Champions
2014 SSC Joe Urso 54-4 College World Series
2015 SSC Joe Urso 43-13 National Champions
2016 SSC Joe Urso 41-10 NCAA Regional
2017 SSC Joe Urso 37-12 NCAA Regional
2018 SSC Joe Urso 42-11 NCAA Regional
2019 SSC Joe Urso 45-14 National Champions
2020 SSC Joe Urso 15-7
2021 SSC Joe Urso 23-6 College World Series
2022 SSC Joe Urso 44-13 NCAA Super Regional
2023 SSC Joe Urso 43-11 NCAA Regional
2024 SSC Joe Urso 52-8 National Champions
Overall Record: 2040–922–9

Notable alumni

Current MLB roster

Former Spartans on current MLB rosters.

Player Position Team
Jordan Leasure P Chicago White Sox

Individual honors

Division II Player of the Year

Player Position Year
Tino Martinez 1B 1988
Sam Militello P 1990
Mike Valdes P 1998
Lee Cruz OF 2006

National Coach of the Year

Player Year
Lelo Prado 1992
Lelo Prado 1993
Terry Rupp 1998
Joe Urso 2006
Joe Urso 2007
Joe Urso 2013
Joe Urso 2015
Joe Urso 2019
Joe Urso 2024

SSC Player of the Year

Player Position Year
Brian Zaletel 3B 1992
Rodd Kelley SS 1993
Ronnie Merrill SS 2000
Tom Carrow OF 2001
Lee Cruz OF 2006
Mike Schwartz DH 2010
Yorvis Torrealba OF 2019
EJ Cumbo OF 2023
EJ Cumbo OF 2024

SSC Pitcher of the Year

Player Year
Ricky Burton 1996
Mike Valdes 1998
Charlie Manning 2001
Eric Beattie 2003
Sergio Perez 2006
Kevin Ferguson 2007
Sean Bierman 2012
Mike Adams 2013
Preston Packrall 2014
David Lebron 2017
David Lebron 2018
Jordan Leasure 2021
Alex Canney 2023
Skylar Gonzalez 2024

SSC Coach of the Year

Player Year
Joe Urso 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2024
Terry Rupp 1997, 1998, 2000
Lelo Prado 1989, 1993
Ken Dominguez 1987

References

  1. "Coaching History - University of Tampa Athletics". Tampaspartans.com. Retrieved 2017-04-27.
  2. "Facilities - University of Tampa Athletics". Tampaspartans.com. Retrieved 2017-04-27.
  3. University of Tampa Brand Guidelines (PDF). Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  4. "Yearly Results - University of Tampa Athletics". Tampaspartans.com. Retrieved 2017-04-27.
  5. "Joe Urso". Tampaspartans.com. Retrieved 2024-10-19.
  6. "Tampa Spartans MLB Draft Selections". Tampaspartans.com. Retrieved 2024-10-19.
  7. "No. 1 Spartans Defeat MLB's Philadelphia Phillies". Tampaspartans.com. March 2015. Retrieved 2024-10-19.
  8. "Baseball Recap Netherlands vs. The University of Tampa". catcher.home.xs4all.nl. Retrieved 2024-10-19.
  9. "Ranking History". Tampaspartans.com. Retrieved 2024-10-19.
  10. "Yearly Results". TampaSpartans.com. The University of Tampa. Retrieved 9 June 2019.


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