TAMPA, Fla. – All-America left fielder Michael Danner (Tampa, Fla.) homered in the second and sophomore righty David Heintz (Tampa, Fla.) pitched five shutout innings as the University of Tampa, the defending NCAA Division II national champions, completed a three-game season-opening sweep of Bentley University with a 6-1 victory in non-conference college baseball Sunday afternoon at the UT Baseball Field.

Danner staked the Spartans to a 1-0 lead when he hit the first pitch of the bottom of the second over the right field fence. Three innings later, junior right fielder Stephen Dezzi (Sarasota, Fla.) singled and made it a 2-0 game when he scored on an error.

Tampa, ranked number one in Division II preseason, broke it open with four runs in the seventh inning. Five of the team's nine hits came in the inning, including an RBI double by junior catcher Nick Tindall (O'Fallon, Ill.) and RBI singles from juniors Chris Pagliarulo (Tampa, Fla.) and Domenic Millan (Tampa, Fla.).

Bentley's only run was scored in the eighth. Consecutive singles by junior left fielder Mike Muir (Bridgewater, Mass./Xaverian Bros. HS), junior first baseman Ryan O'Connor (Newburyport, Mass./ Newburyport HS) and senior center fielder Sean Keady (Norwood, Mass./Norwood HS) loaded the bases with one out, and freshman third baseman Will Mattern (Orlando, Fla./Lake Highland Prep) followed with an RBI single to left in his first career at bat.

Bentley finished with seven hits, including two by Keady.

Junior lefty David Long (Brookfield, Conn./Brookfield HS), a transfer from Lasell College, pitched well in his first Bentley appearance. He worked the first four innings and allowed just two hits, including Danner's homer.

Heintz, the starter and winner for Tampa, allowed two hits and struck out three in five innings of work. He allowed a total of four base runners and was helped out by a pair of double plays.

Bentley will be back in Florida Feb. 15-17 for a three-game series at Rollins College.