Tampa Spartans baseball

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Tampa Spartans baseball
Tampa univ athletics wmark.png
Founded1977;48 years ago (1977)
Overall record2,095–932–9 (.692) [1]
University University of Tampa
Head coach Joe Urso (24th season)
Conference Sunshine State
Location Tampa, Florida
Home stadiumUniversity of Tampa Baseball Field
(Capacity: 750 [2] )
ColorsBlack, red, and gold [3]
     
College World Series champions
1992, 1993, 1998, 2006, 2007, 2013, 2015, 2019, 2024, 2025
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, 2025
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, 2025
Conference regular season champions
1987, 1989, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 [4]

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 ten national titles. Their most recent came in 2025. The Spartans are coached by Joe Urso, considered to be the greatest Division II baseball head coaches and one of the best college baseball coaches of all-time. [5]

Contents

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. [6] 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 [7] and the Netherlands national baseball team ahead of the 2006 World Baseball Classic. [8]

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. [9]

Yearly records

YearConferenceCoachOverall RecordPostseason
1961 Sam Bailey 9-11-1
1962Sam Bailey13-10
1963Sam Bailey13-9
1964Sam Bailey8-14
1965Sam Bailey12-9
1966Larry Gable16-8
1967Larry Gable8-15
1968Larry Gable10-15
1969Bob Dews13-9
1970Dan Sikes8-11
1971Dan Sikes7-14
1972Dan Sikes15-9-1
1973Joe Wiendl8-22
1974Frank Permuy14-20
1975Frank Permuy10-18-1
1976Frank Permuy21-14-1
1977 Ind. Frank Permuy18-24-1
1978 Ind. Pete Mulry29-13
1979 Ind. Pete Mulry25-25
1980 Ind. Pete Mulry27-18
1981 Ind. Pete Mulry27-19
1982 SSC Brian Sabean 27-19
1983 SSC Brian Sabean24-18-1
1984 SSC Brian Sabean37-18 NCAA Regional
1985 SSC Ken Dominguez32-17
1986 SSC Ken Dominguez36-23 College World Series
1987 SSC Ken Dominguez42-11-1 National Runner-Ups
1988 SSC Ken Dominguez31-18 NCAA regional
1989 SSC Lelo Prado 37-18-1 NCAA regional
1990 SSC Lelo Prado45-14 College World Series
1991 SSC Lelo Prado34-17 NCAA Regional
1992 SSC Lelo Prado42-19 National Champions
1993 SSC Lelo Prado43-21 National Champions
1994 SSC Lelo Prado36-18 NCAA Regional
1995 SSC Lelo Prado41-17 NCAA Regional
1996 SSC Terry Rupp 45-16 College World Series
1997 SSC Terry Rupp46-16 College World Series
1998 SSC Terry Rupp46-14 National Champions
1999 SSC Terry Rupp33-22
2000 SSC Terry Rupp45-12 NCAA Regional
2001 SSC Joe Urso49-10 College World Series
2002 SSC Joe Urso36-19 NCAA Regional
2003 SSC Joe Urso45-18 National Runners-Up
2004 SSC Joe Urso41-16 NCAA Regional
2005 SSC Joe Urso40-18 NCAA Regional
2006 SSC Joe Urso54-6 National Champions
2007 SSC Joe Urso53-10 National Champions
2008 SSC Joe Urso42-11-1 College World series
2009 SSC Joe Urso40-17 NCAA Regional
2010 SSC Joe Urso46-11 College World Series
2011 SSC Joe Urso36-17 NCAA Regional
2012 SSC Joe Urso38-10 NCAA Regional
2013 SSC Joe Urso47-12 National Champions
2014 SSC Joe Urso54-4 College World Series
2015 SSC Joe Urso43-13 National Champions
2016 SSC Joe Urso41-10 NCAA Regional
2017 SSC Joe Urso37-12 NCAA Regional
2018 SSC Joe Urso42-11 NCAA Regional
2019 SSC Joe Urso45-14 National Champions
2020 SSC Joe Urso15-7
2021 SSC Joe Urso23-6 College World Series
2022 SSC Joe Urso44-13 NCAA Super Regional
2023 SSC Joe Urso43-11 NCAA Regional
2024 SSC Joe Urso52-8 National Champions
2025 SSC Joe Urso55-10 National Champions
Overall Record:2095–932–9

[10]

Notable alumni

Current MLB roster

Former Spartans on current MLB rosters.

PlayerPositionTeam
Jordan Leasure P Chicago White Sox

Individual honors

Division II Player of the Year

PlayerPositionYear
Tino Martinez 1B1988
Sam MilitelloP1990
Mike ValdesP1998
Lee CruzOF2006

National Coach of the Year

PlayerYear
Lelo Prado1992
Lelo Prado1993
Terry Rupp1998
Joe Urso2006
Joe Urso2007
Joe Urso2013
Joe Urso2015
Joe Urso2019
Joe Urso2024

SSC Player of the Year

PlayerPositionYear
Brian Zaletel3B1992
Rodd KelleySS1993
Ronnie MerrillSS2000
Tom CarrowOF2001
Lee CruzOF2006
Mike SchwartzDH2010
Yorvis TorrealbaOF2019
EJ CumboOF2023
EJ CumboOF2024

SSC Pitcher of the Year

PlayerYear
Ricky Burton1996
Mike Valdes1998
Charlie Manning2001
Eric Beattie2003
Sergio Perez2006
Kevin Ferguson2007
Sean Bierman2012
Mike Adams2013
Preston Packrall2014
David Lebron2017
David Lebron2018
Jordan Leasure2021
Alex Canney2023
Skylar Gonzalez2024

SSC Coach of the Year

PlayerYear
Joe Urso2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2024
Terry Rupp1997, 1998, 2000
Lelo Prado1989, 1993
Ken Dominguez1987

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.