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 the most successful baseball program in the history of Division II with eleven national titles, the most recent coming in 2026. 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.

Tampa has reached the College World Series 22 times, reaching the finals 13 times. The Spartans have won 25 Sunshine State Conference titles, including 20 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 YearConferenceCoachOverall RecordPostseason 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 Runner-Ups 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 2025 SSC Joe Urso 55–10 National Champions 2026 SSC Joe Urso 51–9 National ChampionsOverall Record:2146–941–9

Notable alumni

Tino Martinez Lou Pinella Ozzie Timmons E. J. Cumbo Joe Urso

Current MLB roster Former Spartans on current MLB rosters.

PlayerPositionTeam Jordan Leasure P Chicago White Sox

Individual honors

Division II Player of the Year Player Position YearTino Martinez1B1988Sam MilitelloP1990Mike ValdesP1998Lee CruzOF2006

National Coach of the Year Player YearLelo Prado1992Lelo Prado1993Terry Rupp1998Joe Urso2006Joe Urso2007Joe Urso2013Joe Urso2015Joe Urso2019Joe Urso2024Joe Urso2025

SSC Player of the Year Player Position YearBrian Zaletel3B1992Rodd KelleySS1993Ronnie MerrillSS2000Tom CarrowOF2001Lee CruzOF2006Mike SchwartzDH2010Yorvis TorrealbaOF2019EJ CumboOF2023EJ CumboOF2024Jhoander IrigoyenDH2026

SSC Pitcher of the Year Player YearRicky Burton1996Mike Valdes1998Charlie Manning2001Eric Beattie2003Sergio Perez2006Kevin Ferguson2007Sean Bierman2012Mike Adams2013Preston Packrall2014David Lebron2017David Lebron2018Jordan Leasure2021Alex Canney2023Skylar Gonzalez2024C.J. Williams2025B.J. Bailey2026

SSC Coach of the Year Player Year Joe Urso 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2024, 2025, 2026 Terry Rupp 1997, 1998, 2000 Lelo Prado 1989, 1993 Ken Dominguez 1987

References

External links