# Tampa Spartans baseball

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: | Overall Record: | Overall Record: | 2040–922–9 | 2040–922–9 |

## Notable alumni

* Tino Martinez
* Lou Pinella
* Ozzie Timmons
* EJ Cumbo
* Joe Urso

### 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 |