Tampaâ?' One Big Inning Too Much To Overcome

Tampa's Damon Elder hit a grand slam homer to cap a five-run fourth inning that helped power the top-ranked Spartans to a 7-1 win over the Moccasins in the opening game of their Sunshine State Conference series Friday night at Tampa.

With the win, Tampa improved to 29-6, 11-5 in the SSC.  The Moccasins fell to 20-16, 8-8 in the SSC.
 
The Moccasins out-hit the Spartans 8-7 and had base runners in all but three innings, but managed just one run on a solo homer by Mike Snyder, his ninth of the season, in the sixth inning.  Jon Jones took the loss, dropping his record to 3-5.  T.J. Kuban had three of FSC's hits.  Austin Barnett, who pitched four scoreless inings in relief Tuesday night against Embry-Riddle, tossed two more scoreless innings in relief against the Spartans.
 
The two teams play a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m. at Tampa.