TAMPA, Fla. — Expectations are different at the University of Tampa.
“Right from the beginning, when we start recruiting them, we let them know it is championship or bust,” head baseball coach Joe Urso said. “And it might not be fair, but that’s what we sign up for.”
What You Need To Know
The University of Tampa baseball team has won back-to-back national championships
It is looking to become the first Division II team to win three in a row
Brayden Woodburn has been the starting second baseman for each of the last two seasons
Brayden, who is from Oviedo, says he is enjoying the opportunity to play close to home
The University of Tampa baseball team is coming off winning back-to-back national championships.
“It is unbelievable,” second baseman Brayden Woodburn said. “It is something, honestly, that you can’t recreate. You can’t tell someone what it feels like — it’s really an emotion on its own.”
No Division II college baseball team has ever won three straight titles, nicknamed a “three-peat,” but this year’s Spartans squad is ready to try and change that.
“Oh man, I mean winning one is hard enough, so doing two was even harder. And now, going for three, there’s definitely a target on your back and everybody’s shooting to win and beat you,” Woodburn said. “So, just making sure that we play our brand of baseball Tampa baseball, we should be alright.”
Woodburn has played on each of the last two title teams and is living out a Sunshine State dream. He is from Winter Springs, played at Oviedo, then started his college baseball career at State College of Florida.
That’s where he found a new love for the game — when it was taken away from him after he tore his labrum and rotator cuff on his throwing shoulder.
“It was really tough,” Woodburn said. “The doctor told me at first that I was never going to be able to play baseball again, which was a heartbreaker. First thing I did, I went in my car to call my parents, and couldn’t call them, so I was bawling my eyes out for a few minutes while on my way back to my apartment.
“But after that, I called my parents, I talked to the trainer at State College of Florida, and they said, ‘Well, let’s get a second opinion and see what they had to say.'”
They went to Dr. Koco Eaton, an acclaimed orthopedic surgeon for the Tampa Bay Rays. The surgery was successful, and Woodburn said that while the recovery process was long, it changed his life.
“Ultimately, I honestly feel like I turned out to be a better player and a better person after that, because it made me realize that I can’t take the game for granted,” he said. “I feel like it happened at a perfect time — as much as you don’t want to talk about an injury happening at the perfect time, I feel like it did, because I did feel like I might have got a little complacent with the game.”
He brought that mentality with him to U-Tampa, a program with eight national championships before he got there. He helped add two more, manning the keystone and earning all-conference honors last year.
“Obviously, we have great players and great coaches that know what they’re doing day in and day out,” Woodburn said. “But it all ties back to the family aspect, and we pride ourselves on that, just making sure that we’re more than just a team and bond on a deeper level,” Woodburn said.
Woodburn said he is thankful for his college baseball journey, and thankful for this opportunity to make some history.
“It’s all gonna be about how we’re able to come together and realize that Tampa plays baseball at a specific level,” he said. “And there’s only one thing in mind, and it’s to hang another ball on the wall out there. So if we can do that and have that mindset, I think we’re gonna be alright.”
The program will have a championship celebration during its home opener on Friday, Feb. 6, where it will also unveil a brand new video board at the ballpark.